उपनिषद् · Mahāvākya p13
॥
देवनागरी
ब्रह्मैक्यं तत्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
brahmaikyaṃ tat
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
ब्रह्म-ऐक्यं तत्brahma-aikyaṃ tatthis is union with brahman
अनुवाद
«This is union with brahman.»
संस्करण
473727c47c34 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
It says brahma-aikyam, “union with brahman,” and this word deserves examination, for it is not the same as “identity.” Aikya is an abstract noun from eka, “one”: “oneness, unitedness.” It denotes a state of union, not the coincidence of two into one.
The difference is grammatical, but essential, and it is worth illustrating. In our own language we say “the unity of a people,” “the unity of spouses,” “unity of views.” None of these expressions means that two have become not-two; all of them mean that the two are united.
The Vaiṣṇava side builds its reading on words exactly like these, and points out that Sanskrit distinguishes them no less well: aikya (“union”), abheda (“non-difference”), tādātmya (“identity of substance”) — three different words, and the books do not use them at random. Let us add what deserves note in the construction of this line. It stands immediately after the negation of samādhi, of perfections, and of the mind's dissolution.
That is, the order is: not a state, not a capacity, not a stilling — but union. The first three are things that happen within one person; the fourth is a relation, and hence is set against them. Hence this line, brief as it is, is, to my mind, testimony in favor of relation. Had dissolution been meant, it would have been called laya, “dissolution” — the very word rejected one line above.