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Tat tvam asi means

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

Tat tvam asi means "you are the same spiritual identity."
CC Adi 7.129, Translation and Purport:

“It is the purpose of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to present praṇava (oṁkāra) as the reservoir of all Vedic knowledge. The words "tat tvam asi" are only a partial explanation of the Vedic knowledge.

Tat tvam asi means "you are the same spiritual identity."

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Tat tvam asi means that the living entity is a spiritual particle of the supreme spirit, but this is not the chief motif of the Vedānta-sūtra or the Vedic literature. The chief sound representation of the Supreme is oṁkāra.
Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 25:

Praṇava, or oṁkāra, is the chief sound vibration found in the Vedic hymns, and it is considered to be the sound form of the Supreme Lord. From oṁkāra all Vedic hymns have emanated, and the world itself has also emanated from this oṁkāra sound. The vibration tat tvam asi, also found in the Vedic hymns, is not the chief vibration but is an explanation of the constitutional position of the living entity. Tat tvam asi means that the living entity is a spiritual particle of the supreme spirit, but this is not the chief motif of the Vedānta-sūtra or the Vedic literature. The chief sound representation of the Supreme is oṁkāra.

All these faulty explanations of the Vedānta-sūtra are considered atheistic. Because the Māyāvādī philosophers do not accept the eternal transcendental form of the Supreme Lord, they are unable to engage in real devotional service. Thus the Māyāvādī philosopher is forever bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and Kṛṣṇa's devotional service. The pure devotee of the Personality of Godhead never accepts the Māyāvāda philosophy as an actual path to transcendental realization. The Māyāvādī philosophers hover in the moral and immoral material atmosphere of the cosmic world and are thus always engaged in rejecting and accepting material enjoyment. They have falsely accepted the nonspiritual as the spiritual, and as a result they have forgotten the eternal spiritual form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as well as His name, qualities and entourage. They consider the transcendental pastimes, name, form and qualities of the Supreme to be products of material nature. Because of their acceptance and rejection of material pleasure and misery, the Māyāvādī philosophers are eternally subjected to material misery.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

The Vedic version tat tvam asi, "Thou art the same," means not that everyone is God but that everyone is qualitatively of the same nature as God.
Krsna Book 85:

Lord Kṛṣṇa intended for Vasudeva to see everything with the vision of a mahā-bhāgavata, a first-class devotee, who sees that all living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and that the Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart. In fact, every living entity has a spiritual identity, but in contact with material existence he becomes influenced by the material modes of nature. He becomes covered by the concept of bodily life, forgetting that his spirit soul is of the same quality as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One mistakenly considers one individual to be different from another simply because of their material bodily coverings. Because of differences between bodies, the spirit soul appears before us differently.

Lord Kṛṣṇa then gave a nice example in terms of the five material elements. The total material elements, namely the sky, air, fire, water and earth, are present in everything in the material world, whether in an earthen pot or in a mountain or in the trees or in an earring. These five elements are present in everything, in different proportions and quantities. A mountain is a gigantic form of the combination of these five elements, and a small earthen pot is made of the same elements, but in a smaller quantity. Therefore all material items, although in different shapes or different quantities, are of the same ingredients. Similarly, the living entities—beginning from Lord Kṛṣṇa and including millions of Viṣṇu forms, and also the living entities in different forms, from Lord Brahmā down to the small ant—are all of the same spiritual quality. Some are great in quantity, and some are small, but qualitatively they are of the same nature. It is therefore confirmed in the Upaniṣads that Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Lord, is the chief among all living entities and that He maintains them and supplies them with all necessities of life. Anyone who knows this philosophy is in perfect knowledge. The Vedic version tat tvam asi, "Thou art the same," means not that everyone is God but that everyone is qualitatively of the same nature as God.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Tat tvam asi means that, "You have got the same quality as God. Now you have to realize and you have to act. Don't misuse your life simply in animal propensity and go to dog."
Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

So you simply study this tat tvam asi. You can understand yourself and God, if you are a philosopher, if you are thoughtful. The tat tvam asi is so nice. But if you simply become more fool, "Oh, I am God, so I have nothing to do. I have become God. I have no seeing. I have no... Yes. Meditation. That's all." This is another foolishness. Just try to understand. "You are the same." That's nice.

But why your process of enjoyment is checked? You want unchecked happiness. You do not wish to die. Why death overcomes you? We are sitting here very peacefully. If there is any information, "Oh, the ceiling is going to fall down," we shall immediately vacate this floor because we are afraid of death. That means I want eternal life, but death is there. These questions should be answered. Why I am subject to death? Why I am subjected to birth? Why I am subjected to disease, old age?

This is called brahma-jijñāsā. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is called inquiry, real inquiry. That is human life's inquiry. The beasts, the birds, the animals, they can(not) inquire these things. They are suffering, but they cannot inquire, "Why I am suffering?" Here is an opportunity. Here you can understand that "I am as good as God, although I am very small." Then you can prepare yourself. Tat tvam asi: "You are the same." You can also join with Kṛṣṇa and dance with Him. Why you are forgetting that? But you have to qualify yourself. You cannot dance with the dog and God at the same time. If you want to dance with the dog, then remain here. Go on perpetually dancing with the dog. But if you want to dance with God, you can prepare yourself and go there and dance with him. That is up to you because tat tvam asi: "You are the same." That, everything, is my choice, what I want to do.

In the practical life also. President Nixon is the head of your state. You can also become. But you must have the capacity. Simply by thinking that "I am President Nixon, Nixon, Nixon...," that will not do. Tat tvam asi means that, "You have got the same quality as God. Now you have to realize and you have to act. Don't misuse your life simply in animal propensity and go to dog." No. Therefore Vedic... Tamasi mā jyotir-gama: "Don't remain in the darkness. Come out to the light." Tamasi mā jyotir-gama: "Don't remain in birth and death cycle. Come to the eternal life." So everything is there. You can have eternal life, blissful life, life of knowledge.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness means training people for becoming fit to enter into that eternal life, blissful life. That training is meant for human being, not for animals. So you should not misuse this human form of life. Try to understand tat tvam asi, and act accordingly. That will be successful of our activities.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

So tat tvam asi means "You are the same." Tat tvam asi. That means you are spirit soul. So what is the objection?
Lecture on SB 6.3.18-19 -- Gorakhpur, February 12, 1971:

Revatīnandana: In the Bhāgavatam and also in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya you talk about the oṁkāra and tat tvam asi vibration. Now, the impersonalists improperly emphasize tat tvam asi over the original oṁkāra. I was wondering what are the significance of these two vibrations and what is their relationship to Kṛṣṇa? What is tat tvam asi?

Prabhupāda: Oṁkāra is Kṛṣṇa also. Kṛṣṇa is everything. Why not oṁkāra? So tat tvam asi means "You are the same." Tat tvam asi. That means you are spirit soul. So what is the objection? And for every Vedic mantra, the oṁkāra is there. Praṇāma. Every Vedic mantra. Just like we also chant oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam. Oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyam. So every Vedic mantra is preceded by the oṁkāra.

Page Title:Tat tvam asi means
Compiler:Rishab
Created:20 of Jan, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=1, OB=2, Lec=2, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:5