Then Paiṅgala asked Yājñavalkya to offer an exposition on the mahāvākyas (sacred sentences of the Veḍas). To which Yājñavalkya replied: "One should scrutinise (the sacred sentences), Ṭaṭṭvamasi (That art thou), Ṭvamṭaḍasi (Thou art That), Ṭwambrahmasi (Thou art Brahman) and Ahambrahmāsmi (I am Brahman). The word 'Ṭaṭ' denotes the cause of the universe that is variegated beyond perception, has the characteristics of omniscience, has Māyā as His vehicle and has the attributes of Sachchiḍānanḍa. It is He that is the basis of the notion 'I' which has the differentiated knowledge produced by antaḥkaraṇa; and it is He that is denoted by the word 'Ṭwam' (Thou). That is the undifferentiated Brahman which remains as the aim (or meaning) of the words Ṭaṭ and Ṭvam after freeing itself from Māyā and Aviḍyā which are respectively the vehicles of Paramāṭmā and Jīvāṭmā. The inquiry into the real significance of the sentences Ṭaṭṭvamasi and Ahambrahmāsmi forms (what is called) śravaṇa (hearing—the first stage of inquiry). To inquire in solitude into the significance of śravaṇa is manana. The concentration of the mind with one-pointedness upon that which should be sought after by śravaṇa and manana is niḍiḍhyāsana. Samāḍhi is that state in which chiṭṭa having given up (the conception of the difference of) the meditator and the meditation, becomes of the form of the meditated like a lamp in a place without wind. Then arise the modifications pertaining to Āṭmā. Such (modifications) cannot be known; but they can only be inferred through memory (of the samāḍhi state). The myriads of karmas committed in this beginningless cycle of rebirths are annihilated only through them. Through proficiency in practice, the current of nectar 1

always rains down in diverse ways. Therefore those who know Yoga call this samāḍhi, ḍharma-megha (cloud). Through these (modifications of Āṭmā), the collection of affinities is absorbed without any remainder whatever. When the accumulated good and bad karmas are wholly destroyed, these sentences (Ṭaṭṭvamasi and Ahambrahmāsmi), like the myrobalan in the palm of the hand, bring him face to face with the ultimate Reality, though It was before invisible. Then he becomes a Jīvanmukṭa.