Thou art that

The Chandogya Upanishad contains a profound dialogue between sage Uddalak and his son Svetaketu. After studying various subjects in a gurukul for 12 yrs, Svetaketu returned home proud and confident, believing himself to be highly learned. Noticing his son's arrogance, Uddalak gently questioned him, 'You have learnt everything about worldly activities pertaining to your ego-self, but have you learnt that knowledge by which the unheard becomes heard, unthought becomes thought, and unknown becomes known? That is the knowledge of the Self, the Supreme Reality.'

Humbly, Svetaketu admitted his ignorance and requested his father to teach him. Thus began a series of teachings through simple yet profound analogies. Uddalak asked Svetaketu to dissolve salt in water, and after he did so, told him, 'Though you cannot see the salt now, it is present everywhere in the water. Likewise, the Self, the Universal Being, is present everywhere, though it cannot be seen.'

Uddalak gave another example, that of clay and said that though it could be cast in many forms, the underlying substance, clay, remained the same. Similarly, all things in the universe are manifestations of a single fundamental reality: the Self. Saying this, Uddalak uttered the mahavakya, 'Tat Tvam Asi' - Thou art That.


Through these teachings, Uddalak guided Svetaketu towards understanding that individual self, or atman, is not separate from the Paramatman.