Mah
v
kya
(Skt., ‘great saying’). Any one of several great sayings which occur in the
Upani
ads
and which are held to reveal the unity of the Self (
tman
) and Ultimate Reality (
Brahman
). The number of these is generally said to be four, but five are commonly encountered in the later literature:
tat-tvam-asi
(‘That Thou art’),
aha
brahm
smi
(‘I am Brahman’),
sarva
khalvida
brahma
(‘All this indeed is Brahman’),
ayam
tm
brahma
(‘This Self is Brahman’), and
prajñ
nam brahma
(‘Pure Consciousness is Brahman’).