Tat tvam asi

Expressions researched:
"tat tvam asi"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 4.9, Purport:

"The one Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternally engaged in many, many transcendental forms in relationships with His unalloyed devotees." This Vedic version is confirmed in this verse of the Gītā personally by the Lord. He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who does not waste time in philosophical speculations attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation. Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a doubt, attain liberation. The Vedic version tat tvam asi is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme, or who says unto the Lord "You are the same Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead," is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion:

tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti

nānyaḥ panthā vidyate 'yanāya

"One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and there is no other way to achieve this perfection." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8)

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 17.23, Purport:

The three words oṁ tat sat are uttered in conjunction with the holy name of the Supreme Lord, e.g., oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ. Whenever a Vedic hymn or the holy name of the Supreme Lord is uttered, oṁ is added. This is the indication of Vedic literature. These three words are taken from Vedic hymns. Oṁ ity etad brahmaṇo nediṣṭhaṁ nāma (Ṛg Veda) indicates the first goal. Then tat tvam asi (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7) indicates the second goal. And sad eva saumya (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1) indicates the third goal. Combined they become oṁ tat sat. Formerly when Brahmā, the first created living entity, performed sacrifices, he indicated by these three words the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the same principle has always been followed by disciplic succession. So this hymn has great significance. Bhagavad-gītā recommends, therefore, that any work done should be done for oṁ tat sat, or for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one performs penance, charity and sacrifice with these three words, he is acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB Preface and Introduction

SB Introduction:

This transcendental sound is identical with the form of the Lord. All the Vedic hymns are based on this praṇava oṁkāra. Tat tvam asi is but a side word in the Vedic literatures, and therefore this word cannot be the primeval hymn of the Vedas. Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has given more stress on the side word tat tvam asi than on the primeval principle oṁkāra."

The Lord thus spoke on the Vedānta-sūtra and defied all the propaganda of the Māyāvāda school.* The Bhaṭṭācārya tried to defend himself and his Māyāvāda school by jugglery of logic and grammar, but the Lord defeated him by His forceful arguments. He affirmed that we are all related with the Personality of Godhead eternally and that devotional service is our eternal function in exchanging the dealings of our relations. The result of such exchanges is to attain premā, or love of Godhead.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.22.37, Purport:

To understand this is to attain actual spiritual culture. There are two ways of advancing in spiritual culture—by the method of the impersonalist philosophers and by devotional service. The impersonalist comes to the conclusion that he and the Supreme Spirit are one, whereas devotees, or personalists, realize the Absolute Truth by understanding that because the Absolute Truth is the supreme predominator and we living entities are predominated, our duty is to serve Him. The Vedic injunctions say, tat tvam asi, "You are the same," and so'ham, "I am the same." The impersonalist conception of these mantras is that the Supreme Lord, or the Absolute Truth, and the living entity are one, but from the devotee's point of view these mantras assert that both the Supreme Lord and ourselves are of the same quality. Tat tvam asi, ayam ātmā brahma. Both the Supreme Lord and the living entity are spirit. Understanding this is self-realization.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.16.57, Purport:

If one forgets the difference between the Supreme Lord and the living entity, his conditional life begins. Conditional life means giving up one body to accept another and undergoing death to accept death again. The Māyāvādī philosopher teaches the philosophy of tat tvam asi, saying, "You are the same as God." He forgets that tat tvam asi applies in terms of the marginal position of the living entity, who is like sunshine. There is heat and light in the sun, and there is heat and light in the sunshine, and thus they are qualitatively one. But one should not forget that the sunshine rests on the sun. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham (BG 14.27): "I am the original source of Brahman." The sunshine is important because of the presence of the sun globe. It is not that the sun globe is important because of the all-pervasiveness of the sunshine. Forgetfulness and misunderstanding of this fact is called māyā.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 7.128, Purport:

As Caitanya Mahāprabhu states in the present verse of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, sarva-viśva-dhāma: oṁkāra is the resting place of everything, just as Kṛṣṇa is the resting place of everything (brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham).

The Māyāvādī philosophers consider many Vedic mantras to be the mahā-vākya, or principal Vedic mantra, such as tat tvam asi (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7), idaṁ sarvaṁ yad ayam ātmā and brahmedaṁ sarvam (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.5.1), ātmaivedaṁ sarvam (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.25.2) and neha nānāsti kiñcana (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.1.11). That is a great mistake. Only oṁkāra is the mahā-vākya. All these other mantras that the Māyāvādīs accept as the mahā-vākya are only incidental. They cannot be taken as the mahā-vākya, or mahā-mantra. The mantra tat tvam asi indicates only a partial understanding of the Vedas, unlike oṁkāra, which represents the full understanding of the Vedas. Therefore the transcendental sound that includes all Vedic knowledge is oṁkāra (praṇava).

CC Adi 7.128, Purport:

Aside from oṁkāra, none of the words uttered by the followers of Śaṅkarācārya can be considered the mahā-vākya. They are merely passing remarks. Śaṅkarācārya, however, has never stressed chanting of the mahā-vākya oṁkāra; he has accepted only tat tvam asi as the mahā-vākya. Imagining the living entity to be God, he has misrepresented all the mantras of the Vedānta-sūtra with the motive of proving that there is no separate existence of the living entities and the Supreme Absolute Truth. This is similar to the politician's attempt to prove nonviolence from the Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṇa is violent to demons, and to attempt to prove that Kṛṣṇa is not violent is ultimately to deny Kṛṣṇa. As such explanations of the Bhagavad-gītā are absurd, so also is Śaṅkarācārya's explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra, and no sane and reasonable man will accept it. At present, however, the Vedānta-sūtra is misrepresented not only by the so-called Vedāntīs but also by other unscrupulous persons who are so degraded that they even recommend that sannyāsīs eat meat, fish and eggs.

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."

CC Adi 7.130, Translation and Purport:

“Praṇava (oṁkāra) is the mahā-vākya (mahā-mantra) in the Vedas. Śaṅkarācārya's followers cover this to stress without authority the mantra tat tvam asi.

The Māyāvādī philosophers stress the statements tat tvam asi, so ’ham, etc., but they do not stress the real mahā-mantra, praṇava (oṁkāra). Therefore, because they misrepresent Vedic knowledge, they are the greatest offenders to the lotus feet of the Lord. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says clearly, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī: "Māyāvādī philosophers are the greatest offenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa." Lord Kṛṣṇa declares:

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.73, Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted sannyāsa from the Bhāratī sampradāya (community), which belongs to the disciplic succession of Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkarācārya introduced names for his sannyāsa disciples, and these are ten in number. Out of these, the surnames Tīrtha, Āśrama and Sarasvatī are considered topmost. In the monastery at Śṛṅgerī, the surname Sarasvatī is considered first class, Bhāratī second class and Purī third class. A sannyāsī who has very nicely understood the slogan tat tvam asi and who takes his bath at the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamunā and Sarasvatī is called a Tīrtha. A person who is very eager to accept sannyāsa, who is detached from worldly activities, who has no desire for any kind of material facilities, and who is thus saved from repeated birth and death is known as Āśrama.

CC Madhya 6.175, Translation and Purport:

“The subsidiary vibration tat tvam asi ("you are the same") is meant for the understanding of the living entity, but the principal vibration is oṁkāra. Not caring for oṁkāra, Śaṅkarācārya has stressed the vibration tat tvam asi.”

Tat tvam asi is accepted as the primary vibration by one who does not accept praṇava, the transcendental sound incarnation of the holy name of the Lord, as the chief principle in the Vedic literature. By word jugglery, Śaṅkarācārya tried to create an illusory presentation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His relationship with the living entities and the cosmic manifestation. Tat tvam asi is a warning to the living entity not to mistake the body for the self. Therefore tat tvam asi is especially meant for the conditioned soul. The chanting of oṁkāra or the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is meant for the liberated soul. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has said, ayi mukta-kulair upāsyamānam (Nāmāṣṭaka 1). Thus the holy name of the Lord is chanted by the liberated souls. Similarly, Parīkṣit Mahārāja says, nivṛtta-tarṣair upagīyamānāt (SB 10.1.4).

CC Madhya 6.175, Purport:

The chanting of oṁkāra or the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is meant for the liberated soul. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has said, ayi mukta-kulair upāsyamānam (Nāmāṣṭaka 1). Thus the holy name of the Lord is chanted by the liberated souls. Similarly, Parīkṣit Mahārāja says, nivṛtta-tarṣair upagīyamānāt (SB 10.1.4). The holy name of the Lord can be chanted by those who have fully satisfied their material desires or who are fully situated on the transcendental platform and devoid of material desire. The name of the Lord can be chanted by one who is completely freed from material contamination (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11)). Śaṅkarācārya has indirectly minimized the value of the principal Vedic mantra (oṁkāra) by accepting a subordinate vibration (tat tvam asi) as the most important Vedic mantra.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 20:

The conclusion of the Vaiṣṇava philosophy is that this cosmic manifestation is a by-product of the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord.

The principal word in the Vedas—praṇava, or oṁkāra—is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord. Therefore oṁkāra should be considered the supreme sound. But Śaṅkarācārya has falsely preached that the phrase tat tvam asi is the supreme vibration. Oṁkāra is the reservoir of all the energies of the Supreme Lord. Śaṅkara is wrong in maintaining that tat tvam asi is the supreme vibration of the Vedas, for tat tvam asi is only a secondary vibration. Tat tvam asi suggests only a partial representation of the Vedas. In several verses of the Bhagavad-gītā (8.13, 9.17, 17.24) the Lord has given importance to oṁkāra. Similarly, oṁkāra is given importance in the Atharva Veda and the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. In his Bhagavat-sandarbha, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmīhas given great importance to oṁkāra: "Oṁkāra is the most confidential sound representation of the Supreme Lord." The sound representation or name of the Supreme Lord is as good as the Supreme Lord Himself.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 20:

"When the transcendental sound is vibrated by a conditioned soul, the Supreme Lord is present on his tongue." In the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad it is said that when oṁkāra is chanted, one attains perfect spiritual vision. In other words, in spiritual vision, or the spiritual world, there is nothing but oṁkāra. Unfortunately, Śaṅkara has abandoned this chief word, oṁkāra, and has whimsically accepted tat tvam asi as the supreme vibration of the Vedas. By accepting such a secondary vibration and leaving aside the principal vibration, he has given up the direct interpretation of the scripture in favor of his own indirect interpretation.

Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has unceremoniously obscured the Kṛṣṇa consciousness described in the puruṣa Vedānta-sūtra by manufacturing an indirect interpretation and abandoning the direct interpretation. Unless we take all the statements of the Vedānta-sūtra as self-evident, there is no point in studying the Vedānta-sūtra. Interpreting the verses of the Vedānta-sūtra according to one's own whim is the greatest disservice to the self-evident Vedas.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 25:

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.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 85:

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.

After hearing Kṛṣṇa speak the entire philosophy of spiritual life in an abbreviated summation, Vasudeva was exceedingly pleased with his son. Being thus elated, he could not speak but remained silent. In the meantime, Devakī, the mother of Lord Kṛṣṇa, sat by the side of her husband. Previously she had heard that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were so kind to Their teacher that They had brought back the teacher's dead son from the clutches of the superintendent of death, Yamarāja. Since she had heard of this incident, she had also been thinking of her own sons who were killed by Kaṁsa, and while remembering them she was overwhelmed with grief.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.13:

Truth cannot be the Supreme Personality of Godhead with unlimited energies, they argue that this would mean immutable Brahman is actually mutable. Thus their logic loses all cohesion and they become a laughingstock. In trying to refute the established theory of pariṇāma-vāda, or the "transformation of energy," they accuse Śrīla Vyāsadeva of being mistaken when he says that the material universe and the living entities are all transformations of the Lord's energy and are therefore real, not false. Thus in their philosophical discussions the monists reject the main purport and essence of all Vedic scriptures and their corollaries and hang on to nonessential injunctions, such as tat tvam asi, "You are that." They like to deliberate on these subpoints, but when confronted with the arguments of a learned Vaiṣṇava, they turn and run from the battlefront.

Without understanding that the Supreme Lord is a transcendental personality, the monists make futile and grossly mundane attempts at restraining their senses, meditating on the Lord's impersonal aspect as the ultimate and original Absolute Truth. As it is impossible to dam a flooding river, so it is impossible to control the senses by meditating on the impersonal Brahman.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

As soon as you get the knowledge from authority, your knowledge is perfect. But if you want to get the knowledge by your own sense perception, you will never be able to come to the right conclusion; neither it is possible to get knowledge in that process. Go on.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "The Vedic version, tat tvam asi, is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme or who says unto the Lord, 'You are the same Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead,' is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti nānyaḥ panthā vidyate ayanāya. One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no alternative means, because anyone who does not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is surely in the mode of ignorance.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

Spiritual understanding is possible by surrender, by question, and by service. The question should be made to a person where you can surrender, and that person where you surrender must be rendered service. This is the process. Yes?

Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, in this Vedic verse, tat tvam asi, is this where the Māyāvādīs, have begin their impersonal philosophy, "Thou art that," or...?

Prabhupāda: Yes. We also. We cannot deny the Vedic version. Tat tvam asi is a Vedic version. So either you are Māyāvādī or Vaiṣṇava, you cannot deny it.

Just like two lawyers are arguing in the court. The medium is the law court. So neither of them can deny the law court, but one has to establish his convictions by argument, by logic. So similarly, tat tvam asi is the code of Vedic principle or Vedas, "You are that." Tat tvam asi. Tat means that supreme spirit. "You are." So our philosophy, Vaiṣṇava philosophy, we begin from this point.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

So similarly, tat tvam asi is the code of Vedic principle or Vedas, "You are that." Tat tvam asi. Tat means that supreme spirit. "You are." So our philosophy, Vaiṣṇava philosophy, we begin from this point. As Kṛṣṇa began Bhagavad-gītā from the point that "You are not this body," we begin from this version, tat tvam asi. Tat tvam asi. "You are not this." That means "What I am?" Then I must be something; otherwise what is my identity? That reply is your identity is that "You are as good as God." That means you are qualitatively the same. Tat tvam asi. Qualitatively you are...

The mistake of the Māyāvāda philosophy is that "You are the same." You are the same in which way? I am the same in quality, not in quantity. Just like if I say, "You are as good as President Nixon," there is nothing wrong because you are American, he is American. Is there anything wrong? From the point of view, American citizenship, you are as good as President Nixon. But when you go deep into the matter, you will find, oh, you are far, far away from President Nixon. Similarly, we are identifying ourself with this matter, but Vedas says that "You are not matter. You are supreme spirit soul." Not supreme, "You are spirit soul."

That understanding is tat tvam asi. You have to understand ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman. I am not matter." Our disease is that I am identifying with this matter, "I am this material body," which is foreign to me. This is the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā instruction, that "You are not this body."Tat tvam asi: "You are spirit soul." So we also have to accept. We are accepting that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul."

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

"You are not this body."Tat tvam asi: "You are spirit soul." So we also have to accept. We are accepting that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul." But my constitutional position is part and parcel of the supreme whole. So just like the gold mine and a small particle of gold. That small particle of gold is also gold. But that does not mean it has the same value as the gold mine. Tat tvam asi. Just like a drop of sea water. Chemical composition is the same. Salty taste is the same.

Similarly, if you can understand yourself, then you can understand even God. If you study yourself, that "Although I am very small..." What to speak of myself? Even a small ant, it has got individuality. A ant is going on. You stop it. It will struggle. That means it wants to keep its individuality. Therefore, if you are the same, then God is also individual. He is not impersonal. Immediately you can understand. How you can...? I have got so much... I am so small, tiny; still, I have got my individuality, personality, and how God can be impersonal? Even a common sense man can understand.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

Even a common sense man can understand.

If I have got tendency to love nice girls and dance with her, or a girl—everyone is individual—why God shall not be? He must have that tendency. Otherwise wherefrom this tendency comes? Because I am part and parcel of God, unless the tendency is there, wherefrom I get this tendency? So if you simply try to understand the tat tvam asi, you can immediately understand your position and God. It is so nice.

So ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt. Ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt. The Vedic version says, Vedānta, that "A spirit soul is by nature joyful." Therefore—we are spirit soul—we are hankering after joy, where there is dance, where there is cinema, where there is nice food, where there is nice song, nice picture, nice beautiful woman or man. Everyone is searching after joy. Therefore the Supreme must be joyful. But I am conditioned. Therefore my joy is being checked up. But He is not conditioned. His joy is unlimited. He is everlastingly in enjoyment in Vṛndāvana, dancing with gopī.

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.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

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.

Lecture on BG 4.7-10 -- Los Angeles, January 6, 1969:

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. Is that clear? Yes. You have question?

Devotee: Prabhupāda? You've said many times that in this material (world) we have no guarantee what our next birth will be. But, say, can't mystic yogis who perfect certain mystical powers, do they have any guarantee of a human birth in their next life?

Prabhupāda: You have also guarantee. You have also guarantee. Those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously, even they do not make perfection... Generally you can make perfection. It is not very difficult, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 3.25.9 -- Bombay, November 9, 1974:

The Absolute Truth, tattva... Tattva means the truth, original. Tat tvam asi. That tattva is Bhagavān. In the... The Absolute Truth is understood in three features, three angles of vision. The first is Brahman, impersonal Brahman. The second is localized Paramātmā. And the ultimate is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Brahman realization is not complete realization of the Absolute Truth. Neither Paramātmā realization is absolute, or the complete understanding of the Absolute Truth. When you realize Bhagavān, then you understand what is Paramātmā, what is Brahman, and what is Absolute Truth. Yaj jñātvā... No. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. That is the Vedic instruction. If you understand Bhagavān, then you understand Paramātmā, you can understand Brahman also.

Lecture on SB 6.2.15 -- Vrndavana, September 18, 1975:

The inquiry is ke apa haya. So not that inquiry. Ke apa haya, share cut ke apa haya, cao ke apa haya, dal ke apa haya.(?) Not That is not tattva-jijñāsā. Tattva-jijñāsā means "What is Brahman?" That is tattva-jijñāsā, because Vedas indicates that "Try to understand ahaṁ brahmāsmi, 'You are Brahman.' " Tat tvam asi. So 'ham. So this is the Vedic injunction.

So the Vedic injunction, tattva-jijñāsā, that is the first aphorism in the Vedānta-sūtra. Athāto brahma-jijñāsāḥ: "The human form of life is meant for inquiring about the Absolute Truth." Therefore Bhāgavata explains, jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. That is the explanation of Brahma-sutra. Therefore you will find at the end of each chapter of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-purāṇe brahma-sutra-bhasye. The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the real comment on Brahma-sutra, Vedānta-sūtra. Vedānta-sūtra was compiled by Vyāsadeva. He summarized all the Vedic knowledge, summarized all Vedic knowledge into Brahma-sutra, in nutshell.

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.

So who is going to mop these two rooms? The ladies (indistinct). It is the ladies' business. Ladies' business. First after this, cleansing (indistinct). Then get some flowers, change dress. This is the procedure. And then offer breakfast. In this way.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 11, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: They want to remain with this designation-body and want to see God. That is not possible. To enter fire you have to become fire. Otherwise, it will be not possible to enter fire. So without Brahman realization, you cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). (break) ...is the same. Quality, it is same. It is salt, salty. And the whole ocean is also salty. That is tat tvam asi. "You are also salty," if I say. If the drop of the water, I say that "This is also salty," that is tat tvam asi. Not that he has become the whole sea. This is rascaldom. (break) ...God create another ocean in the sky. Then you are God. When there is some tooth pain, you go to the doctor, and you are God. Just see how much nonsense they are. As soon as there is tooth pain, "Oh, oh. Just now I am not God, I am patient." So these things are going on. I have seen so many gods. I have seen one that Dr. Misra. When he had a toothache, "Ohhh, oh." You see? (break) ...cheap philosophy, by misunderstanding the whole world has become atheists, all rascals. Atheist means rascal number one, mūḍhāḥ, āsuriṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ. As soon as one becomes atheist, he is rascal number one.

Morning Walk -- April 11, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: "Yeah, behind the stick there is my hand." That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, mayādhyakṣena prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram: (BG 9.10) "Under My control the nature is working." But these rascals, they do not know. They think nature is working automatically. Even they accept, but they cannot control nature. Now, how he is God? You control nature. Suppose behind the nature there is no God. All right, you control the nature. Suppose behind this stick my hand is working. You cannot see my hand. But you control this stick, which is beating you, which is kicking you. Control that. So you cannot control anything and you have become God. So 'ham, tat tvam asi. These slogans misused, simply misused.

Indian Man (2): They say just something like a small degree to the people, all right, those who are coming...

Prabhupāda: Childish, childish. Therefore they have been described as mūḍhā, mūḍhā. Mūḍhā means a child, they are foolish. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhāmāḥ (BG 7.15). (break) ...nābhijānāti prakṛtiṁ mohiniṁ śritaḥ. Prakṛtiṁ mohiniṁ śritaḥ. What is that verse?

Room Conversation with Roger Maria leading writer of communist literature -- June 12, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Non-dual.

Yogeśvara: Tat tvam asi. He's saying, "We are that."

Prabhupāda: So then, then why he raised the question of Absolute Truth, non-dualism, neti neti? This is the discussion of Absolute Truth. So why he says, "For the time being, let us become silent"?

Bhagavān: Yes, he's saying... Oh, it's hard. In other words, he's saying, "Let's get rid of everything that's not the Absolute Truth, and not talk about actually what is the Absolute Truth yet."

Yogeśvara: Yeah, that's the point.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Ganesa dasa's Mother and Sister -- May 14, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who does not waste time in philosophical speculations attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation. Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a doubt, attain liberation. The Vedic version, 'tat tvam asi,' is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme, or who says unto the Lord, 'You are the Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead,' is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed.

In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti nānyaḥ panthā vidyate 'yanāya. One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Evening Conversation -- August 8, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: He who accepts this truth on the strength of the authority of the Vedas and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and who does not waste time in philosophical speculations attains the highest perfectional stage of liberation. Simply by accepting this truth on faith, one can, without a doubt, attain liberation. The Vedic version, tat tvam asi, is actually applied in this case. Anyone who understands Lord Kṛṣṇa to be the Supreme, or who says unto the Lord, 'You are the Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead,' is certainly liberated instantly, and consequently his entrance into the transcendental association of the Lord is guaranteed. In other words, such a faithful devotee of the Lord attains perfection, and this is confirmed by the following Vedic assertion:

tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti

nānyaḥ panthā vidyate 'yanāya

One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no alternative because anyone who does not understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is surely in the mode of ignorance. Consequently he will not attain salvation, simply, so to speak, by licking the outer surface of the bottle of honey, or by interpreting the Bhagavad-gītā according to mundane scholarship.