Mahavakya, Mahāvākya, Maha-vakya: 15 definitions
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)
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य) refers to the “import of the principal texts”, according to Maṇḍana-Miśra, the author of the Brahmasiddhi and one of the best known figures in the literature of Advaita Vedānta.—According to Maṇḍana, the knowledge which we get from the Upaniṣads is indirect and mediate (parokṣa) and necessarily involves relation in some manner like any other cognition arising from a valid verbal testimony. Meditation upon the content of the verbal cognition is necessary in order to transform the indirect and mediate knowledge into direct and immediate experience. So repeated contemplation (prasaṅkhyāna) on the import of the principal texts (mahāvākyas) is a ‘must’ in order to attain, the direct intuition of Brahman. Vāchaspati who is greatly indebted to Maṇḍana follows him in this respect, as in many others.
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.
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)
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)
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य) refers to “great words” (from whose tantra is concluded), according to the Guru-maṇḍala-arcana [i.e., “Guru Mandala Worship]” 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”.
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
mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n (S) A great (i.e. worthy of reverence and honor) word or saying. A term for any sentence of the Vedas.
mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n A term for any sentence of the Vedas. A great word.
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
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).
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n.
(-kyaṃ) 1. Any continuous composition, any literary work. 2. A long sentence. 3. A principal sentence.
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—n. a principal sentence, [Vedāntasāra, (in my Chrestomathy.)] in
Mahāvākya is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms mahā and vākya (वाक्य).
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य).—[neuter] great speech, i.e. either literary work or chief sentence.
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
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य):—[(ma + vākya)] n.
1) eine grosse Menge von Sätzen, ein grosses Gefüge einzelner Sätze, ein literarisches Product (wie das Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Raghuvaṃśa) [Sāhityadarpana 9, 4. 10.] Davon nom. abstr. tva n. 7. —
2) ein grosser Satz, - Gedanke; Bez. von zwölf Aussprüchen der Upaniṣad’s (tattvamasi, ahaṃ brahmāsmi, brahmaivedaṃ sarvam u. s. w.), insbes. aber der mystisch gedeuteten Silben tattvam, [Weber’s Verzeichniss 181, No. 618.] [Oxforder Handschriften 227,b,23.] [Vedānta lecture No. 35. 78.] [BANERJEA 376.] viveka [Weber’s Verzeichniss No. 631.] [Oxforder Handschriften 222.b,11.] dvādaśamahāvākyanirṇaya [HALL 138.] vicāra ebend. mahāvākyārtha [142.] mahāvākyārthaprabodha [137.] mahāvākyārthavicāra [138.] rahasya [142.] vivaraṇa [138.] muktāvalī [Akademische Vorlesungen 149.] mahāvākya auch Name einer Upaniṣad [Weber’s Indische Studien 3, 326.]
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य):—n. —
1) eine grosse Menge von Sätzen , ein grosses Gefüge von Sätzen , ein literarisches Product. Nom.abstr. tva n. —
2) ein grosser Satz , — Gedanke ; Bez. von zwölf Aussprüchen der Upaniṣad’s , insbes. der mystisch gedeuteten Silben tatvam. —
3) Titel einer Upaniṣad.
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
Mahāvākya (ಮಹಾವಾಕ್ಯ):—
1) [noun] a long, complex sentence.
2) [noun] (phil.) any of several short, but most significant sentences found in upaniṣads.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
Mahāvākya (महावाक्य):—n. great saying;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): The, The, Maha, Vakya, Te, Mahavakya.
Starts with (+7): Mahavakyadarpana, Mahavakyamahamantra, Mahavakyamantropadeshapaddhati, Mahavakyamuktavali, Mahavakyani, Mahavakyanirnaya, Mahavakyanyasa, Mahavakyapancikarana, Mahavakyarahasya, Mahavakyaratnavali, Mahavakyartha, Mahavakyartha atharvavediya, Mahavakyarthadarpana, Mahavakyarthaprabandha, Mahavakyarthaprabodha, Mahavakyarthasiddhi, Mahavakyarthavicara, Mahavakyarthavivarana, Mahavakyasiddhanta, Mahavakyasviddhanta.
Full-text (+21): Mahavakyanyasa, Mahavakyadarpana, Mahavakyatippana, Mahavakyavicara, Mahavakyavivarana, Mahavakyaratnavali, Mahavakyopanishad, Mahavakyanirnaya, Mahavakyasiddhanta, Mahavakyaviveka, Mahavakyatva, Mahavakyamuktavali, Mahavakyarahasya, Mahavakyavyakhya, Dvadashamahavakya, Mahavakyapancikarana, Prasankhyana, Mahavakyamantropadeshapaddhati, Mahavakyavivekarthasakshivivarana, Mahavakyarthadarpana.
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Search found 66 books and stories containing Mahavakya, Mahā-vākya, Maha-vakya, Maha-vakyas, Mahāvākya, Mahavakyas, The mahavakya; (plurals include: Mahavakyas, vākyas, vakyas, vakyases, Mahāvākyas, Mahavakyases, The mahavakyas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Liberation in early Advaita Vedanta (by Aleksandar Uskokov)
1. Introduction and a Historical Note < [Chapter 10 - Sarvajñātman and the doctrine of Upaniṣadic Mahā-vākya]
2. Mahā-Vākya (great statements) < [Introduction]
4. The Vedāntic Mahā-vākyas < [Chapter 10 - Sarvajñātman and the doctrine of Upaniṣadic Mahā-vākya]
Brahma Sutras (Shankara Bhashya) (by Swami Vireshwarananda)
Chapter III, Section II, Introduction < [Section II]
Chapter III, Section III, Introduction < [Section III]
Shankaracharya and Ramana Maharshi (study) (by Maithili Vitthal Joshi)
Chapter 3.1 - Ramaṇa Maharṣi on Jīva
Chapter 2.1 - Śaṅkarācārya on Jīva
Preceptors of Advaita (by T. M. P. Mahadevan)
Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Sivaprakasam (Study in Bondage and Liberation) (by N. Veerappan)
Relationships between entities < [Chapter 5 - Concept of Advatia]
Interpretations of the Mahavakyas by Shri Madhva < [Chapter 5 - Concept of Advatia]
Interpretations of the Mahavakyas by Shri Ramanuja < [Chapter 5 - Concept of Advatia]