Summary:

Vivekachudamani, Verse 78: To understand that jīva and Īśvara are one Consciousness, implication must be used — neither totally rejecting all characteristics (jahallakṣaṇā) nor fully retaining them (ajahallakṣaṇā). Instead, limiting attributes like the jīva's finitude and Īśvara's cosmic power are selectively discarded, retaining their shared essence: pure Consciousness.

Vivekachudamani, Verse 79-80: Just as “this is that Devadatta” negates contradictory attributes of time and circumstance to recognize the same person beneath changing upadhis, “Tat Tvam Asi” directs us past the limiting attributes of jīva and Īśvara to recognize one undivided Consciousness. The Self, like Devadatta, is unchanged before, during, and after the process of negation — and this undivided oneness of Brahman and jīva is what hundreds of mahāvākyas reveal.

Vivekachudamani, Verse 81: All clay products are nothing but clay; similarly, this entire world, born of Existence and having Existence as its essence, is nothing but Sat alone. Since nothing exists other than Sat, that Sat is the only reality — the very Self. The changing body-mind complex is mere name-form superimposed on the constant substratum, just as “pot” is superimposed on clay. Therefore, you are that Brahman: ever tranquil, stainless, non-dual, and absolute.

Vivekachudamani – Verse 78: Proper & Improper Way of Resolving Jiva & Ishvara

ततः तु तौ लक्षणया सुलक्ष्यौ
तयोः अखण्ड एक रसत्व सिद्धये
न अलम् जहत्या न तथा अजहत्या
किन्तु उभय अर्थ आत्मिकया एव भाव्यम् (२४७, अल्त् २४९)
tataḥ tu tau lakṣaṇayā sulakṣyau
tayoḥ akhaṇḍa eka rasatva siddhaye
na alam jahatyā na tathā ajahatyā
kintu ubhaya artha ātmikayā eva bhāvyam (247, Alt 249)

Andre: To understand that jīva and Īśvara are one Consciousness, we need to use a form of implication [method of deriving non-literal meaning from a word, which leads to implied meaning]. We can't just throw away all their apparent characteristics (jahallakṣaṇā; the method of total rejection), nor can we keep all of them as they are (ajahallakṣaṇā; the method of complete retention). We must selectively discard the superficial, limiting aspects (like the jīva's body or Īśvara's creative power) and retain their shared nature of consciousness.

Alt: The oneness of the individual and the total is established by implication. It is not enough to totally reject or not reject the meaning of “You” and “that.” It must be through a rejection of the non-essential attributes of the two.

Verse makes you appreciate how rishies solved the “tat tvam asi” equation.

1) The Core Problem: An Apparent Contradiction

The mahāvākya (great statement) “Tat Tvam Asi” – “You are That” – presents a profound logical challenge.

1. 1. “Tvam” (You) signifies the jīva, which is finite knowledge (alpajña), limited power (alpaśaktiman), has doership (kartṛtva), and enjoyership (bhoktṛtva).
   2. “Tat” (That) signifies Īśvara, the total self or cause of the universe. Its attributes are all-encompassing: omniscience (sarvajña), omnipotence (sarvaśaktiman).

How can the limited individual be the limitless whole? A direct, literal interpretation creates an impossible contradiction. Therefore, we must seek the implied meaning (lakṣyārtha).

2) The Tool: The Three Types of Implication ^{(Lakṣaṇā)}

Jahad lakṣaṇā (Rejection / Substitution)

Method: The primary meaning of a word is completely rejected and replaced by a related meaning to make the sentence sensible.

Example: “The village is on the Ganges”. Literally, a village cannot exist in the flowing river. So, we totally reject “Ganges” and substitute “the bank of the Ganges.” The implied meaning is “The village is on the bank of the Ganges.” Another way to call this method is substitution, like replacing “the room is noisy” with “the people in the room are noisy”.

Application to “Tat Tvam Asi”: Any substitute for the limited “You” would still be limited. Any substitute for the total “That” would no longer be the totality. This method fails.

Ajahad lakṣaṇā (Non-Rejection / Addition)

Method: The primary meaning is fully retained, but an additional meaning is brought in to complete the sense.

Example: “The red is running”. The word “red” is retained, but we add “horse” to make it meaningful: “The red horse is running.”

Application to “Tat Tvam Asi”: This method also fails. What can we add to “Tat” (the totality)? Nothing, as the totality includes all things. What can we add to “Tvam” (the individual)? Any addition, like “brahmin” or “scholar,” only adds more limiting qualities, moving it further from the limitless “Tat.” The sentence is already complete; it doesn't need extra words.

Jahad-Ajahad lakṣaṇā (Rejection & Retention) or Bhāga-tyāga-lakṣaṇā

Method: Discard the contradictory/incidental attributes, and retain the commonality. Here’s how below…

3) The Solution: Applying Jahad-Ajahad lakṣaṇā or Bhāga-tyāga-lakṣaṇā

 Step 1: Find the Lakṣya (Implied Meaning) of “Tvam” (You):

• • Ask: “Who am I, really?”. Use the process of exclusion (neti neti). Anything you can objectify – your body, senses, mind, emotions, even the ego-sense (“I am happy”) – is an object known to you, the subject. Therefore, they are not you.
  • What remains? The pure consciousness (caitanya) that illuminates all these objects. This consciousness is the ever-present, non-objectifiable subject, the “I” before any qualifications. This is the lakṣya (implied meaning) of “Tvam”.

Step 2: Find the Lakṣya (Implied Meaning) of “Tat” (That)

• • “Tat” refers to Īśvara, the cause of the universe. Intelligence can’t function or put together and govern particles/neurons/galaxies/etc – without presence of Consciousness.  Thus Ishvara is mithya, depending on its satyam.

Step 3: Negate the Contradictory, Retain the Essential

• • From “Tvam” (you), we reject (Jahad) all limiting, superimposed attributes: finitude, doership, etc. These are properties of the body-mind-sense complex (upādhi), not of the conscious Self.
  • From “Tat” (Ishvara) we reject (Jahad) all its cosmic attributes: being the remote creator, ruler, etc.
  • What we retain (Ajahad) from both terms is their common, non-dual essence: Awareness or Consciousness.

Vivekachudamani – Verse 79: Example: “This is that Devadatta”

सः देवदत्तः अयम् इति इह च एकता
विरुद्ध धर्म अंशम् अपास्य कथ्यते
यथा तथा तत्त्वम् असि इति वाक्ये
विरुद्ध धर्मान् उभयत्र हित्वा (२४८, अल्त् २५०)
saḥ devadattaḥ ayam iti iha ca ekatā
viruddha dharma aṁśam apāsya kathyate
yathā tathā tattvam asi iti vākye
viruddha dharmān ubhayatra hitvā (248, Alt 250)

* Combined with Verse 80 below.

Vivekachudamani – Verse 80: Truth Lies in the Essence of Both

संलक्ष्य चित् मात्रतया सदा आत्मनोः
अखण्ड भावः परिचीयते बुधैः
एवं महावाक्य शतेन कथ्यते
ब्रह्म आत्मनोः ऐक्यम् अखण्ड भावः (२४९, अल्त् २५१)
saṁlakṣya cit mātratayā sadā ātmanoḥ
akhaṇḍa bhāvaḥ paricīyate budhaiḥ
evaṁ mahāvākya śatena kathyate
brahma ātmanoḥ aikyam akhaṇḍa bhāvaḥ (249, Alt 251)

[V79-80 Combined] Just as in the sentence ‘this is that Devadatta,’ the oneness is stated giving up the contradictory part, so too in the sentence ‘you are that’ giving up the contradictory parts in both the words and keeping in view the oneness in the form of consciousness alone, the undividedness of the Brahman and jīva is understood by vivekīs. In this manner, the undivided oneness of Brahman and jīva is revealed by hundreds of mahāvākyas.

Alt: For example, in the sentence “This person that you see here is that Devadatta,” the discriminating person establishes their oneness by giving up the contradictory elements, i.e. time, place and circumstance.

1) The Illustrative Example: “This is that Devadatta”

Background: Here, “that Devadatta” refers to a person known in the past (different time/place), while “this Devadatta” refers to the person present now. The words “this” and “that” have contradictory attributes (immediacy vs. remoteness). To understand the sentence's true meaning – you need to negate the contradictory parts (such as the person's old age, small bony body, etc) — and retain only the essential part (the essential person, Devadatta).

Using as teaching tool: Let us suppose we have not seen our old acquaintance Devadatta for a long time. We meet a mutual friend at a social gathering and ask him, “What ever happened to Devadatta?” He points to a third man standing next to us and says, “This ^(old-upadhi) is that ^{(young-upadhi)} Devadatta.” We then recognize the same Devadatta: despite the gray hair, the beard, the extra pounds.

These upadhi (attributes) had concealed Him until they were recognized. We were seeing Devadatta, even before we realized it. He is there, unchanged, the same both before we realized his presence and afterward.

Similarly, Self is not affected by the upadhis: it is the same before, during and after the process of negation. 

2) Application to “Tat Tvam Asi”

Just as the statement “this is that Devadatta” helps you see past the superficial, changing attributes (the gray hair, the beard, the extra pounds) to recognize the Purusha, the mahavakya “Tat Tvam Asi” directs you to see past the limiting attributes (or upadhis) of the jiva (like finitude, ignorance, and individuality) and Ishvara (like remoteness, being the creator) to recognize the one, unchanging Purusha.

“This (jiva) is that (Ishvara)” or “This atma is that Brahman”, means the limited individual you perceive here and now is, in essence, the same as the ultimate reality you conceive of as distant and all-powerful.

Vivekachudamani – Verse 81: Let the Universe Remind us of Brahman

मृत्कार्यं सकलं घट आदि सततं मृत् मात्रम् एव अभितः
तद्वत् सम्-जनितं सत् आत्मकम् इदं सत् मात्रम् एव अखिलम्
यस्मात् न अस्ति सतः परं किमपि तत् सत्यं स आत्मा स्वयम्
तस्मात् तत्त्वम् असि प्रशान्तम् अमलं ब्रह्म अद्वयं यत् परम् (२५१, अल्त् २५३)
mṛtkāryaṁ sakalaṁ ghaṭa ādi satataṁ mṛt mātram eva abhitaḥ
tadvat sam-janitaṁ sat ātmakam idaṁ sat mātram eva akhilam
yasmāt na asti sataḥ paraṁ kimapi tat satyaṁ sa ātmā svayam
tasmāt tattvam asi praśāntam amalaṁ brahma advayaṁ yat param (251, Alt 253)

All that is produced of clay like the pot, etc is always nothing but clay all through. Similarly, all that is born of sat (existence) having its being in sat is nothing but sat alone. Because there is nothing other than sat, that sat is the truth; that is itself the ātmā; therefore you are that Brahman which is free from modifications and stains and is limitless and non-dual.

Chinamaya: All the effects or modifications of mud, such as the pot, etc, are accepted without question as mud alone. So too this universe: It is born of Existence alone, it is of the nature of Existence, and will ever be entirely Existence alone.  Since there is nothing other than Reality, and whatever there is existing is That, one’s very own Self also has to be That Reality. Therefore, the “That Thou Art” experience

1) The Fundamental Vedantic Model: Substance and Name-Form

1. Core Analogy: The world is like a clay pot or wooden furniture.
   • Substance (Sat): The fundamental, unchanging reality (e.g., clay, wood, gold). This is Brahman, defined as pure Existence (Sat).
   • Name-Form (Nāma-Rūpa): The changing, dependent appearances (e.g., “pot,” “desk,” “bangle”). This is the world (Jagat), which is mithyā (relatively real, not independently existent).
2. Creation & Dissolution: The process of the universe is merely the superimposition (adhyāsa) of names and forms upon the unchanging Existence (sat) and their subsequent dissolution (Pralaya). The Substance (Sat) alone is constant.

2) Applying the Model to Experience

1. The Linguistic Clue: Our language reveals this truth. We say “clay pot,” “wooden desk,” “golden ring.” The adjective (“clay,” “wooden,” “golden”) points to the substantial reality, while the noun (“pot,” “desk”) points to the dependent name-form.
2. The World as “Existent-World”: Similarly, we speak of the “existent world.” The adjective “existent” points to the fundamental substance – Sat or Brahman. The world has no substance of its own; it is nothing but Existence itself, with names and forms superimposed. For example, instead of saying clay-pot, as if “clay” is an optional adjective describing the pot, it should by potty-clay. Desky-wood. Chairy-wood. Etc. The next step is potty-clay-Existence, desky-wood-Existence, etc.

3) Connecting the Universal Reality to the Individual Self

The Common Thread in Me: If Existence is inherent in everything, it must be inherent in “me” as well. The changing factors (body, mind, emotions) are like the name-forms. The constant factor that remains through all states (waking, dream, deep sleep) is Consciousness (Cit).

4) You are the Non-Dual Reality

1. Your True Identity: Therefore, you are not the body-mind complex (the role you are playing). You are the Brahman that is the substratum of the entire drama of life.
2. Nature of Your True Self (Brahman):
   1. Praśāntam: Ever tranquil and undisturbed by the changes of the body-mind.
   2. Amalam: Stainless, unaffected by the qualities (good/bad) of the superimposed world.
   3. Advayam: Non-dual, without any divisions or a second thing besides itself.
   4. Param: Absolute, beyond all pairs of opposites (it can never be displaced or negated).

5) The Summary of the Verse (Verse 251)

• Line 1 (Analogy): “All products of clay (like a pot) are, in every way, nothing but clay.”
• Line 2 (Application): “Similarly, this entire world, born of Sat and having Sat as its essence, is nothing but Sat alone.”
• Line 3 (Reason): “Because there is nothing other than Sat. That Sat is the only reality (Satyam); that is the very Self (Ātmā).”
• Line 4 (Conclusion): “Therefore, you are that Brahman – tranquil, stainless, non-dual, and absolute.”

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Recorded 16 Jan, 2026