What are the four mahavakyas?

Prajnanam brahma (Aitareya 3.1.3, Rig Veda), aham brahmasmi (Brihadaranyaka 1.4.10, Yajur Veda), tat tvam asi (Chandogya 6.8.7, Sama Veda) and ayam atma brahma (Mandukya 2, Atharva Veda).

Who grouped the four together?

The grouping comes from the later Advaita tradition. Vidyaranya’s Panchadashi gives a chapter to them, and they are taught at sannyasa initiation in Shankara’s order.

Do all schools of Vedanta read them as identity?

No. Advaita reads them as the identity of the self and Brahman. Ramanuja reads them as Brahman being the inner Self of the individual; Madhva reads them as dependence and likeness.

The four mahavakyas

The mahavakyas are four "great sentences" from four Upanishads, one from each Veda: prajnanam brahma (Aitareya 3.1.3), aham brahmasmi (Brihadaranyaka 1.4.10), tat tvam asi (Chandogya 6.8.7) and ayam atma brahma (Mandukya 2). Each says, in its own way, that the Self and Brahman are one.

Aitareya Upanishad 3.1.3, Rig Veda

prajñānaṃ brahma: Consciousness is Brahman.

प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म

prajñānaṃ brahma

Consciousness is Brahman.

A definition: what Brahman is

The Aitareya lists everything there is, gods, elements, every kind of creature, and says all of it is guided by consciousness and rests in it. Then it names that consciousness as Brahman. (Older numbering calls this 5.3.)

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10, Shukla Yajur Veda

ahaṃ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman.

अहं ब्रह्मास्मि

ahaṃ brahmāsmi

I am Brahman.

Recognition: said by the one who knows

In the beginning Brahman knew itself as "I am Brahman" and so became all; whoever knows it the same way, then or now, becomes all of this.

Read it in its place

Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, Sama Veda

tat tvam asi: You are that.

तत्त्वमसि

tat tvam asi

You are that.

Teaching: said by the teacher to the student

Uddalaka says it to his son Shvetaketu nine times, after nine plain examples, from 6.8.7 to 6.16.3.

Read it in its place

Mandukya Upanishad 2, Atharva Veda

ayam ātmā brahma: This Self is Brahman.

अयमात्मा ब्रह्म

ayam ātmā brahma

This Self is Brahman.

Practice: held in contemplation

The second verse of the Mandukya. The rest of the Upanishad maps this Self through waking, dream, deep sleep and the fourth.

Read it in its place

One line each morning

A week of lines for what you are going through, one each morning by email. The first week is free.

Send my week

Questions people ask

What are the four mahavakyas?: Prajnanam brahma (Aitareya 3.1.3, Rig Veda), aham brahmasmi (Brihadaranyaka 1.4.10, Yajur Veda), tat tvam asi (Chandogya 6.8.7, Sama Veda) and ayam atma brahma (Mandukya 2, Atharva Veda).
Who grouped the four together?: The grouping comes from the later Advaita tradition. Vidyaranya’s Panchadashi gives a chapter to them, and they are taught at sannyasa initiation in Shankara’s order.
Do all schools of Vedanta read them as identity?: No. Advaita reads them as the identity of the self and Brahman. Ramanuja reads them as Brahman being the inner Self of the individual; Madhva reads them as dependence and likeness.

Sources and method

Sanskrit from the Wisdom corpus, read against the sanskritdocuments.org editions (and GRETIL where it has the text); where the two differ, the proofread edition is used and the difference is listed for review. English is Wisdom’s own, drafted from the Sanskrit with Shankara’s commentary (S. Sitarama Sastri’s public-domain English) and checked for tone against Swami Paramananda (1919).

Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, under human review.