To the one whose self-luminous light of existence shines forth
pervading this illusory material world with the Vedic affirmation of tattvamasi
willing individuals to waken and realize and never return to an ocean of samsara.
Commentaries
In this verse we will conclude something that started in the first verse. We will move from analysis of “who am I” or “what am I” (verse number 1), and “what is all this universe” (verse number 2), to “what I am and what this is, is one and the same thing. “Tat Tvam Asi”—“That Thou Art,” the great identity. ~Sarvapriyananda
So far, in the earlier two verses, we had a thorough discussion upon the nature of the individual (jīvātmā) and of the Supreme (Paramātmā). The opening verse described the term ‘thou’ in the great statement of the Veda ‘That thou art’.1 In the second stanza, the indicative meaning of the term ‘That’ was exhaustively explained as the great Reality, from which the entire creation has sprung into manifestation, just as a tree springs up from the embryo of the seed. Now this stanza vividly brings home to us the oneness between the indicative meaning of ‘That’ and ‘thou’. In the great statement, mahāvākya, this oneness is declared by the term ‘asi’. We had already suggested in the earlier stanzas the assertion of Vedānta that ‘Existence’ (Sat) and the ‘light of Consciousness’ (sphuraṇa) are both, the expressions of the Infinite. This idea has been fully described in the following stanza. ~Chinmayananda
Consciousness is the cause and the world we perceive is the effect. The attributes of a cause pervade the effect. Therefore, the world cannot be different from the Consciousness. What are the attributes of the Consciousness that we see in the world? Shankara answers this question in this verse. Consciousness is the spark of “I Am” awareness (sphuraṇa), the awareness of our own beingness or existence. Existence is sat and Awareness is cit. There can be no sat without cit, and no cit without sat. “I” must exist to be aware and “I” must be aware to know I exist. Existence-Awareness, sat-cit, are inseparable. Hence, Shankar uses a single phrase sadātmākam (Existence-Consciousness) to indicate the Oneness of the two aspects of Consciousness. ~Rao
The supreme Lord, assuming the form of the Guru, imparts to the disciple the meaning of the maha-vakya: tat tvam asi' (that thou art). The primary meaning of the word that' is the omniscient, omnipotent God who is the cause of the universe. The primary meaning of the word 'thou' is the soul endowed with a psycho-physical organism. The two words in the text are put in apposition with each other and so the text teaches the non-difference of the that' and the thou'. This, however, would be intelligible only when the adjuncts such as the causality of the universe and limitation by a psycho-physical organism are left out, and the basic pure consicousness alone is understood. Thus the teaching of the maha-vakya is that the Self is all. ~Mahadevan
Translations
Chinmayananda 3
yasyaiva sphuraṇaṁ sadātmakam-asat-kalpārthakaṁ bhāsate sākṣāt-tat-tvam-asīti veda-vacasā yo bodhayatyāśritān, yat-sākṣāt-karaṇād-bhavenna punarāvṛttirbhavāmbho-nidhau tasmai śrī-guru-mūrtaye nama idaṁ śrī-dakṣiṇāmūrtaye. (3) यस्य – (he) whose; एव – alone; स्फुरणं – manifestation; सदात्मकम् – nothing but the Reality; असत्कल्पार्थकं – as delusory objects; भासते – appears; साक्षात् – direct (enlightenment); तत् – That; त्वम् – thou; असि – art; इति – thus; वेदवचसा – with the great statement of the Vedas; यः – he who; बोधयति – imparts enlightenment; आश्रितान् – to those who have surrendered to Him; यत्साक्षात्करणात् – after the direct experience of which; भवेत्न – never shall; पुनः – again; आवृत्तिः – return to; भवाम्भोनिधौ – the ocean of worldly existence; तस्मै – to Him; श्रीगुरुमूर्तये – the divine Teacher; नमः – prostration; इदं – this; श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये – to Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti 3. He whose manifestations, which are themselves nothing but the Reality, appear as the objects of the world; He who imparts to those who have surrendered to Him, direct enlightenment, through the commandment of the Vedas ‘That thou art’ and after the direct experience of which, there is no more any return to the ocean of worldly existence; to Him, the divine Teacher, Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti, is this prostration.
Mahadevan 3
To Him whose luminosity alone, which is of the nature of Existence, shines forth entering the objective world which is like unto the non-existent: toHim who instructs those who resort to him through the Vedic text That thou art': to Him by realising whom there will be no more return to the ocean of transmigration to Him, of the form of the Preceptor, the blessed Daksinamurti, may this obeisance be!
Sarvapriyanada 3
“To him in the effulgent form facing the south, Shiva, whose light, which is existence itself, shines forth entering the objects which are almost non-existent. To him incarnate in the guru who instructs the disciples in the Vedic text ‘thou art that.’ To him who being realized there will be no more return to the ocean of saṃsāra. To him, Shiva, be this salutation.”
Sastri 3
To Him in the Effulgent Form Facing the South, whose light, which is Existence itself, shines forth entering the objects which are almost non-existent,—to Him incarnate in the Guru who instructs the disciples in the Vedic text "That thou art;"—to Him who being realized there will be no more return to the ocean of samsâra, to Him (Siva) be this bow!
Denton 3
To him by whose luminosity (this universe) shines forth as existing in the form of unreal objects before the eyes, who having recourse to the words of the Veda ‘thou art that’ causes people to awaken so that they may realize and never again fall into the ocean of life that is the cycle of transmigratory existence. To that blessed guru in the form of śrīdakṣiṇamūrti this profound venerarion.
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