That Thou Art!
Tat Tvam Asi : You are That!
I took this picture on one my small adventures to visit the ancient Dharmaraya (Yudhisthira) temple in Bangalore. This picture is from the adjacent Naga Devata Temple, the pictures for which I am yet to put up.
This radiant child who looks far more brilliant than my little camera could capture was the personification of the “Ananda” (Bliss, Joy, Delight…). May Sri Rama protect him, as we say, Sri Rama Raksha!
I am currently reading the Vakya Vritti of Sri Adi Sankaracharya, where he explains the sentence Tat Tvam Asi.
Tat refers to Brahman – the great, the absolute, the God that is referred to in the Vedas and in the Upanishads, also called Paramatma by some.
Tvam refers to your Jiva. (Not your mind, body or ego etc). To that Sakshi (witness) of your activities and your mind.That consciousness that wishes never to die and which loves itself the best. For whose sake it holds family, wealth etc as dear. Also referred to as the Self or Jivatama by some.
Tat Tvam Asi equates your Jivatama or Self with Paramatma or God.
The Jivatma of this young boy is the same as the Paramatma, resident in the Devata Vigraha that the child is respecting. So my caption Tat Tvam Asi.
That is Advaita. (Absence of Two).
When an Indian greets another with a Namaskaram as that little boy is doing, he is respectfully greeting the Jiva-Brahman in that other person.
All Rights Reserved: Photography and Content : Satya Sarada Kandula
