Tat Twam Asi

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba during the Summer Course in Spirituality and Indian Culture
held for College Students at Brindavan, Whitefield, Bangalore District in May/June 1974
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jun 20, 2002

Atma is permanent. No one can suppress this permanent Atma. No one can destroy this Atma. There is no death or destruction for Atma. As one changes a worn out garment for a new one, also when the body is worn out, the Atma will get into another body.

Pavitratma Swarupas! Our Sruthi has been teaching us that there is nothing in the world other than Brahman. Not only in this world but in any world there is no second to Brahman. There is nothing which existed prior to Brahman and therefore we cannot get proof for the existence of Brahman from any place other than Brahman itself. There are no special qualities which you can attribute to Brahman. The point to be noted is that Brahman existed before all commentaries or expositions and hence no commentary can really expound the nature of Brahman. Prakrithi, the material world or Nivrithi, the non-material world; both of them go round Brahman and they are close to Brahman. All that is existing in the form of knowledge including ignorance is simply Brahman. The basis for everything is Brahman itself. While Brahman is flowing like a stream continually and unbroken, to comprehend it becomes a very difficult matter. What we should recognise is that while the stream is flowing in an uninterrupted manner, it is not losing its completeness. This kind of completeness takes the form given by the three names Ida, Saraswati and Bharati. It also takes the corresponding three places of Vasu, Rudra and Aditya. This strength and this form also take the three names Sasi, Gouri and Savitri. These Goddesses are laying down the form in which the world should move. Our Sruthi has also been preaching that the connection between this trinity of Goddesses is an inseparable connection. These three are always together and you cannot separate one from the other. The natural place which Aditya takes is Bharata. The natural place which Rudra takes is Savitri, and the natural place which Vasu takes is Ida. Vasu, Rudra and Aditya represent the natural form of Veda Vani. For the name Aditya, we can take the word Bharata as a true equivalent.

The name Bharata is synonymous with Aditya and we have to recognise that this word does not apply only to one country but that it applies to the entire world. For us to think that this word Bharata which has adorned the aspect of Aditya is a limited word is an incorrect way of interpreting it. These are sacred and Vedic words. It is not possible to describe them fully in terms of words which are not of Vedic origin. To try and explain the sacred Mantras in terms of words which have come much later will be doing something incomplete because the Mantras themselves are coming form time immemorial. If we make an attempt to use ordinary words which have come into vogue much later to describe the aspect of Brahman, it would not be right as in that way we would be limiting the aspect of Brahman. It is in this context that it has been said that it is not possible to comprehend divinity or understand divinity with either one's mind or eyes or even intelligence. This is because Brahman came into existence well before mind and intelligence came into existence and hence something which was there already cannot be described by means of words which came much later. Is it possible for a newly born son to describe the qualities of his father who existed many years ago before the son was born. To describe the infinite aspect in terms of limited words and limited experience is not possible. The Maharshis who were very well versed in the Vedas and Mantras realised that it is not possible to explain and describe the aspect of Brahman in terms of words and they were only indicating it by their silence. They have been saying that experience alone can be the correct way of looking at Brahman in this context and that exposition is not the correct thing to do.

In this world, it is quite easy to create some words and describe something which we do not understand. We created words like Nirguna, Nirakara, Niranjan etc., but we do not even know the meaning of these words. What is the use of describing something we do not know in terms of words we do not understand? This has become a common error which we all make. Sankara gave a beautiful example for this. It is only when something is in existence that we can describe its anti or opposite. If there is not something which relates to the para or spiritual in the material world, we cannot think of explaining its anti or Apara.

If you have come to accept that all materials are one and the same and that there is no difference between each other, where is the question of your accepting one thing and rejecting another? Thus, if you have reached a stage when you are able to recognise everything as an aspect of Brahman, then how can you decide what you should reject or accept. In that stage, whatever you do, such as accept or reject, is only a reflection of your own mind.

If you have not got a concept of the one basic unit, you cannot have the concept of many. You can move on and comprehend the meaning of many only if you have a clear concept of the one basis. That is why we say 'Ekoham Bahusyam'. We have to realise the truth that it is from the one that several different manifestations arise. The knowledge or wisdom with the help of which we realise this aspect of oneness is called 'Bhakti' or devotion. This is what devotion enables one to realise. It has been the practice in our country that when one wants to worship God, he takes a picture of the Lord in the likeness of his own form. He will associate with the Lord a head, a body, limitations etc., like what he has. That is based on his own idea about himself. He wants to picture God after his own self. There is also one natural feeling for an individual to think that God is something much bigger, much higher than himself.

If you ask a he-buffalo how God is, it will probably reply that God is like a he-buffalo but many times bigger and many times larger. So also, it is natural that each Jiva will picture God as something much bigger than himself, many times more in strength and in abilities. Here we see that God is being given a name and a form by us depending on our own concepts but He Himself has no form or Gunas. The Gunas that are ascribed to Him are given by us and even the form that we associate with Him is dependent on our notions but God Himself has no name, form or Gunas. A newly born baby is not coming with a name attached to it but on the tenth or the eleventh day, the parents or close relatives give a name to the baby. For a new-born baby, parents or relations existed prior to its birth and therefore they are able to give it a name. For the Parabrahma, there is no one who existed prior to Him and so no one can give any name to Him.

The devotees who worship God and who prosper in the grace of God begin to give the Lord some name which is in accordance with their own experience and their own notions of the Lord. What people actually do is to take this omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent divinity and give it some name and some form and then experience the bliss in it. Depending on the strength of devotion of the devotee who worships God and also in accordance with the amount of attachment which the devotee develops to Him, God becomes his companion and helper.

One may ask what about people who do not worship God? Does God not help them? Neither grace nor kindness, neither anger nor pleasure have their origin in God. These things depend only on the devotee. To understand this we can have an example. If one goes close to a fire, the cold will be removed and he will experience the warmth of the fire. If he does not go close to the fire, neither will the cold be removed nor will the warmth be experienced by him. In other words, to feel cold or warm depends on how close he is to fire. Similarly, whether you experience the grace or the kindness of the Lord or not will depend on how close you get to the Lord. It does not depend on God. It is in this context that two words have been used by our ancestors, namely 'Upasana' or 'Upavasa'. 'Upa' means close and 'Vasa' means residence and 'Upavasa' simply means that when you are close to God, all your bad qualities will go and you will get good qualities. The word 'Upasana' means that you are sitting close to the Lord. The Upanishad also can be interpreted as - 'Upa' means close and 'Ni' means to sit down, and thus 'Upanishad' means to go near the Lord and sit down. The implication of the word is that you have to go close to the Lord and sit down as you cannot take a position higher than the Lord because you are full of doubts. Here you are in the position of 'Twam' and God is in the position of 'Tat'; that is, He is in a position to clear all your doubts and you have to sit down and get your doubts clarified. The relationship between 'Tat' and 'Twam' is such that knowledge has to flow from Tat to Twam and that is why it has been called 'Tattwamasi'. Twam is the place from where questions generate and Tat is the place from where answers come. Because Tat is a position of knowledge, there can be no questions from that place. Tat is full of knowledge.

In this context, we say that depending on the extent of Prema or love and affection with which one goes close to the Lord, God will reciprocate and look at the devotee with the same amount of Prema and grace. There is a small example for this. To such devotees who worship and respect God and who believe in God from the depths of their heart, God becomes a companion and a guide to them. On the ninth day of the battle of Mahabharata, the old grandfather Bhishma was waging war in many ways against the Pandavas. All the arrows that were coming from the side of the enemy towards the Pandavas were full of fire and power of destruction. All these harmful weapons which were intended to harm Arjuna actually protected Arjuna and the reason for this is that the Lord himself was the charioteer for Arjuna and under such circumstances the weapons not only did not cause harm but they even helped Arjuna. Krishna never told Arjuna the secret of this. But on the ninth day, Arjuna, finding that victory was on his side and on returning to his camp, was a little bit arrogant and developed some pride. The moment one gets pride and develops ego, it is natural that a situation develops where he forgets even the human nature.

It is common experience that when we ride in a car the owner does not get down first but some assistant first opens the door for the owner to come down. Following this practice, Arjuna would not get down from the chariot first. He had an idea that Krishna, the charioteer, should first go down and open the door for him and then only he wanted to get down with great pride. But Krishna addressed Arjuna as his brother-in-law and asked him to first get down and go inside. Arjuna did not listen to this. Arjuna had the quality of being stubborn on occasions. He felt that Krishna should first get down and that he would then get down. After some time, he thought that it would be unwise to quarrel with Krishna, especially with the war still unfinished and ahead and so he got down from the chariot and went inside but Krishna kept on asking him to go further inside. After Arjuna went inside, Krishna jumped down in an instant and immediately thereafter the whole chariot burnt down and the entire chariot was in ashes. When asked for the reason, Krishna explained that all the weapons that were used that day were deadly and were full of fire and said that he had to keep them under control till then by putting them under his feet. He said that if Krishna had got down earlier, then Arjuna would have been left in the chariot and would have been burnt down along with the chariot. He said that in order to protect Arjuna, he had waited till Arjuna got down and then jumped out in a moment.

It is in this context that Krishna was also called Bharata because of His all pervading nature. The meaning of this is that the aspect of Bharata is connected with Aditya and Aditya is in turn connected with Agni and therefore, if you want to control Agni, you have to put it only in another place where there is Agni. Two days prior to this, Krishna also undertook a different kind of protection. Bhishma was swearing to Duryodhana that he would do something terrible and even kill the Pandavas. When she heard that such a statement was emanating from Bhishma, Draupadi was quite afraid. She was afraid because she knew that Bhishma was very strong and that in one moment he could kill and remove all the Pandavas. She was afraid that Bhishma would kill all her husbands and would render her husbandless. In this terrible fear, she had no one to go to and express her fear. She had only one person and that one was the all-pervading Lord Krishna. She went and prayed to Krishna that in view of Bhishma's threat, he had to save her and protect her Sumangalyatva. God is such that He would submit himself to the limitations which He himself has created. The Lord told Draupadi that he was prepared to rescue and protect Her but said that she must also make her efforts. The Lord said 'I am residing in your heart as the Atma and therefore when you are able to call to order your own strength, I will be able to add to it'.

If we take a piece of wood and go on moving it up and down, fire is not going to be generated. We have to take two similar pieces of wood and rub one against the other vigorously and it is only then that fire will be generated. Therefore Krishna said 'When my aspect of divinity which is externally present and my own aspect which is internal to you as Atma come together then only useful results will come.' As in the analogy of an electric current, we will not get any benefit out of the electric current if only we have the negative or the positive aspect. Unless the negative and the positive come together, there is no benefit.

The Lord said 'I can give God's grace. But you will have to supply human effort. Unless God's grace and human effort come together, the result cannot be achieved'. Immediately Draupadi asked what she should do and said that she was willing to do anything to save her husbands. She asked for clarification of what her effort should be. The Lord told Draupadi that she should go to the house of Bhishma that night and act as he advised her. It is true that in the battle field, Bhishma swore but later when he went home he was in a great dilemma and was asking himself how he could fulfil his promise and how he could kill the Pandavas who were the embodiments of Dharma. He was also troubled because if he does not fulfil his promise, his entire life will be useless. In such doubts, he was moving up and down in his own residence. While Bhishma was struggling in his own mind in this way, everyone else was sleeping in the respective residence after the tiresome battle during the day. Then Krishna woke up Draupadi and said that she should somehow disguise herself by using a big blanket to cover herself and follow him. Krishna was in front and Draupadi was following him behind. The reason was that even Draupadi did not know the residence of Bhishma and so Krishna was leading her. As soon as they approached Bhishma's house, Krishna moved aside a little and told Draupadi that Bhishma was struggling because of sleeplessness and that she should enter the house quietly and fall at Bhishma's feet.

When Draupadi was moving gently, Krishna found that she was wearing shoes which were appropriate to wealthy people in those days and they were making some noise. Then Krishna stopped Draupadi and asked her to remove the shoes as they were making a lot of noise. She removed the shoes and Krishna wrapped them and held them in his own hands. She went into Bhishma's residence and Bhishma was moving up and down as a sleepless man but as soon as she was face to face with Bhishma, she with her bangles and ornaments making a lot of noise immediately fell at his feet. Bhishma realised that she was a family woman and a married woman and he immediately blessed her by saying 'Deergha Sumangali Bhava', 'May you be in this condition of wearing ornaments and being a married woman for a long time.' That was the blessing which he spontaneously gave to Draupadi. Then Draupadi got up and she was shedding tears of joy. Bhishma saw her in that state and was very surprised. He said 'I have now given you blessings that you should be a Deergha Sumangali but I took an oath to kill your husbands, what a contradiction I have landed myself in. Surely you would not have come by yourself at this dead of night. Someone must have given you this idea and made you do this and extract the blessing from me that you will remain a Sumangali for a long time.' Draupadi said that no one else except Lord Krishna would help her at this juncture, and immediately on hearing that Krishna brought her there, Bhishma started looking for Krishna and Krishna walked in with Draupadi's shoes tied in his cloth. Bhishma touched the bundle of cloth and saw that there were Draupadi's shoes in it. Then Bhishma said that Krishna was so great that if His grace was achieved, he would even carry the shoes of the devotees, and the next day it so happened that all the weapons which were coming for Arjuna were received by Krishna and thus Arjuna was protected.

Krishna found that Arjuna's body was in great discomfort and the latter felt very hurt because for his sake, Krishna had to suffer all this. By thinking like this, he became weak in mind and Krishna was sure that if he allowed this situation to continue, Bhishma would surely kill him and victory would be on Bhishma's side. At this juncture, Krishna jumped out of the chariot and was himself going out to fight Bhishma, and Bhishma realised that the very God Himself was coming down to kill him and protect Arjuna. Then Bhishma prayed to the very person coming to kill him because he was the Lord Himself in the following terms:

"As you jump out of the chariot with a leap, the brightness with which your ear rings shine fills the whole sky. The universe that is inside you gets so shaken that the world is unable to bear the jolt. As you advance with the wheel in your hand, the cloth on your shoulders slips down. Even as Arjuna pleads again saying 'I have staked all my reputation on you with full faith in you, pray do not let me down.' Like a lion, you roar 'Today, I shall kill Bhishma and I shall save you' and you ask Arjuna to step aside to let you go; oh God! You are advancing like a thunder, you alone are my saviour and none else - save me as I seek thy protection!"

The whole situation had changed at that time and Krishna took great pity on Bhishma. Here it is necessary for us to understand the context in which Bhishma had offered his prayers. It is quite natural for us to pray to God to save us if someone else is coming to harm us. Here we must see that Bhishma did not recognise any other God. The God who was coming to harm him was the only God for him and he addressed Krishna himself who was coming to harm him to save him. We have to observe the oneness of the God to whom Bhishma prayed here.

Divine strength can be understood only by divinity and divine strength can be controlled only by divinity. No one else can either understand or control divine strength. The aspect of Brahman is that which is in possession of such divine strength which can be controlled only by divine strength. These aspects of Brahman which enable us to realise the oneness of divinity are the aspects contained in the trinity of 'Ida', 'Saraswati' and 'Bharati'. These three forms, Ida, Saraswati and Bharati - are the three forms which protect and give satisfaction to the entire world. It is unfortunate for us to think that the word Bharati which expounds such an infinite meaning comes from the name of some king and that it is not a Vedic word. This is a Vedic word. It has not come from any king or country. There are many words in our Veda which describe the aspect of Bharat and which expound the greatness of Bharat.