Absolute and Identity Statements: Some Observations

Abstract

The Indian Philosophical interpretations of the Upaniṣadic Mahāvakya ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ differ quite vividly when we compare the accounts given to it by the schools of Vedānta such as ‘Dvaita Vedānta’ of Mādhva, ‘Vishiśṭādvaita’ of Rāmānuja, and most famously, the ‘Advaita Vedānta’ of Śankara. The statement translated into English reads something like ‘Thou That art’, which refers to making the individual Atman realize that he himself is the Absolute – The Brahman. In one way of saying, the different names given to the Absolute are synonymous while, in others, they may tend to differ....