Mahavakya, Mahāvākya, Mahā Vākya, Maha-vakya: 13 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Vedanta
2. General definition
In Buddhism
1. Tibetan Buddhism
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
3. Kannada
See also
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Introduction:

Mahavakya means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Hinduism

Vedanta (school of philosophy)

Source: Shodhganga: Siva Gita A Critical Study

Mahāvākya (महावाक्य) refers to “great saying”.—A profound aphorism from scripture. The mahāvākyas posit the essential identity between the individual and the Absolute.

Traditionally the Mahāvākya are four in number:

“prajñānam brahma” which occurs in the Aitareya Upaniṣad of Ṛg Veda;
“ayam ātmā brahma” which occurs in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad of the Atharva Veda;
“tat tvam asi” which occurs in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad of the Sāma Veda;
“aham brahmāsmi” which occurs in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad of the Śukla Yajur Veda.

context information

Vedanta (वेदान्त, vedānta) refers to a school of orthodox Hindu philosophy (astika), drawing its subject-matter from the Upanishads. There are a number of sub-schools of Vedanta, however all of them expound on the basic teaching of the ultimate reality (brahman) and liberation (moksha) of the individual soul (atman).

General definition (in Hinduism)

Source: WikiPedia: Hinduism

The Mahavakyas are "The Great Sayings" of the Upanishads, the foundational texts of Vedanta. Though there are many Mahavakyas, four of them, one from each of the four Vedas, are often mentioned as "the Mahavakyas". The subject matter and the essence of all Upanishads being the same, all the Upanishadic Mahavakyas express this one universal message in the form of terse and concise statements.

In later Sanskrit usage, however, the term mahāvākya came to mean "discourse," and specifically, discourse on a philosophically lofty topic.

The Mahavakyas are:

prajñānam brahma - "Consciousness is Brahman" (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3)
ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self (Atman) is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2)
tat tvam asi - "Thou art That" (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7)
aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10)

Etymolgoy: Mahavakyas; (sing.: mahāvākya, महावाक्य; plural: mahāvākyāni, महावाक्यानि)

In Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)

Source: OSU Press: Cakrasamvara Samadhi

Mahāvākya (महावाक्य) refers to “great words” (from whose tantra is concluded), according to the Cakrasaṃvara Samādhi [i.e., Cakrasamvara Meditation] ritual often performed in combination with the Cakrasaṃvara Samādhi, which refers to the primary pūjā and sādhanā practice of Newah Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna Buddhists in Nepal.—Accordingly, “Now thus beginning the great words (mahāvākya), from whose tantra is concluded, In praise (of) you, Vajravārāhī, the heroine of Cakrasaṃvara. And Cakra Nāthā, innately pure, (with) divine rows (of) jewels adorning (her) body, All limbs always adorned in heroism, praising the power of the highest eternal union”.

context information

Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n (S) A great (i.e. worthy of reverence and honor) word or saying. A term for any sentence of the Vedas.

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n A term for any sentence of the Vedas. A great word.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—

1) a long sentence.

2) any continuous composition or literary work.

3) a great proposition, principal sentence; such as तत्त्वमसि, ब्रह्मैवेदं सर्वम् (tattvamasi, brahmaivedaṃ sarvam) &c.

4) a complete sentence (opp. avāntaravākya q. v.); न च महावाक्ये सति अवान्तरवाक्यं प्रमाणं भवति (na ca mahāvākye sati avāntaravākyaṃ pramāṇaṃ bhavati) ŚB. on MS.6.4.25.

Derivable forms: mahāvākyam (महावाक्यम्).

Mahāvākya is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and vākya (वाक्य).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n.

(-kyaṃ) 1. Any continuous composition, any literary work. 2. A long sentence. 3. A principal sentence.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n. a principal sentence, [Vedāntasāra, (in my Chrestomathy.)] in Chr. 210, 9; 205, 21.

Mahāvākya is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and vākya (वाक्य).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—[neuter] great speech, i.e. either literary work or chief sentence.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Mahāvākya (महावाक्य):—[=mahā-vākya] [from mahā > mah] n. any long continuous composition or literary [work] (-tva n.), [Sāhitya-darpaṇa]

2) [v.s. ...] a principal sentence, gr° proposition, Name of 12 sacred utterances of the Upaniṣads (e.g. tat tvam asi, aham brahmāsmi etc., [especially] of the mystic words tattvam and om), [Vedāntasāra; Catalogue(s)]

3) [v.s. ...] Name of an Upaniṣad

[Sanskrit to German]

Mahavakya in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Mahāvākya (ಮಹಾವಾಕ್ಯ):—

1) [noun] a long, complex sentence.

2) [noun] (phil.) any of several short, but most significant sentences found in upaniṣads.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

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