‘Aham Brahmasmi'! Does this catchphrase remind you of the Bollywood movie Sacred Games 2, or of the first mainstream Sanskrit film in the history of world cinema, or does it remind you of dozens of fiction and non-fiction books available with the same title? Being a lofty, empowering concept for a human mind, it is not a surprise that the phrase has been enormously popular and commodified.

However, little do we realize the significance of this mahavakya or the profound sentence in Vedanta which summarizes the entire spiritual quest of Sanatan Dharma. The mahavakya first occurs in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.4.10) of the Yajur Veda, one of the principal Upanishads and one of the oldest scriptures of Hindu dharma. It was introduced by the great seer of Advaita Vedanta, Adi Shankaracharya.  

If you dive deeper into the etymology of the two words, 'Aham' is the ‘I’, 'Brahman' refers to the ultimate or absolute reality of the Universe, and ‘asmi' means ‘am’. ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ means I am one with the Universe and the absolute reality of it – I am divine. It explains the identity of humans with God. The individual soul is identical to Brahman. The realization of this ultimate goal is the very aim of the spiritual path as per Hindu philosophy.

How does ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ explain Advaita philosophy?

Advaita means non-duality of atma and paramatma. It describes the oneness of the reality of existence: Brahman is eternal, formless, beyond delusion, and the only reality. Atman in every jiva is Brahman, but jiva is unable to realize this because of his ignorance or avidya; Maya shrouds the real nature of the human mind. Thus, it sees the existence of self as separate from God. As the mind is engulfed in worldly pleasures and pains, it limits its identity to several minor identities and is unable to witness its potential oneness with the Brahman. For instance, ‘I am the body’, ‘I am the mind', ‘I am male or female’, ‘I belong to this place, family name, or profession’ are the identities we apply to see ourselves. We encompass several limited and worldly identities, all because of avidya or Maya. It is the lack of awareness of the real self that one sees the duality between self and Brahman, however, there is advaita or nonduality between atma and Brahman.

Key to realize true sense of ‘Aham Brahmasmi’

I am the pure consciousness or I am indeed Brahman; this conceptual or intellectual understanding does not serve the purpose. It is only through the spiritual sadhana when one attains true self-awareness in the absence of Maya, the realization of unity with paramatma is possible. That is why this mahavakya is not a matter of conceptual understanding but is a matter of self-experience. 

For the realization of this inherent possibility of oneness with the supreme reality, the seeker should meditate and realize by rejecting all other identities as “I am not this, I am not this”; removing or going beyond all fake identities which limit our ability to see the real nature of the self. 

Practical implications of the mahavakya

There are two practical implications of the phrase ‘Aham Brahmasmi’.

1) Humans are potentially divine;

2) Humans are connected to the entire universe and everything that exists

You are limitless, potentially divine

In general, one finds one’s sense of life and the world disintegrating at times, but if one experiences life in full awareness, one can see that consciousness is all empowering bliss. Once you reach your destination and know your real nature, your existence becomes a blessing. In your perfect state of egolessness and surrender to the Paramatma, you say ‘Aham Brahmasmi’! You know that your atma has no separate existence.  

Understand the divinity within you and then realize you are none other than God! Self is not limited to the mind, or body, it personifies the whole limitless universe. This idea that when I truly know myself and realize that I am truly divine, any negative thought will never stay for long in one’s mind.  This brings a lot of hope and positivity to humanity. 

You are connected to everything that exists. The phrase represents a central theme of Advaita philosophy, which unites the microcosmic jiva with the macrocosmic Brahman. This means that you and everything you experience in the world around you are, in essence, have the same field of energy. You are intimately connected to this energy, and cannot be separated from it. Therefore, you are also intimately connected to everything that exists. You’re a strand in the cosmic thread connected to all the other strands. 

This mahavakya highlights the notion that all beings are intimately connected to universal energy and cannot be separated from it. Through the inner experience of enlightenment, the awareness of who or what one basically is dawns- that the absolute, universe, and humans share the same fundamental relationship. This realization that the apparent difference among the three is a mere false perception is so humbling. If one realizes that one is a part of Brahman including all other jivas, how can one hate or harm any other jiva in the world? I am destroying myself when I attack others. The message of the Advaita Vedanta phrase by Shankaracharya does lead to universal oneness and connects with the idea of seeing the entire world as essentially one, and not different from self. 

So deep and awe-inspiring is the core of Sanatana Dharma! As opposed to the individualistic Western approach to life where humanism is of the highest importance, the Eastern approach reminds us that only incomplete self-negation of superficial identities is there a chance to discover our real being. 

References

1 Ramanuja’s hermeneutics of the “Upanishads” in comparison with Shankar’s Interpretation. By Yoshitsugu Sawai. Journal of Indian Philosophy Vol. 19, No. 1 (MARCH 1991), pp. 89-98 (10 pages)

2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VolXmOBotWk

Image source: Nest in the forest