Aham Brahmasmi

Extract 1

In the beginning this world was only brahman and it knew only itself, thinking, ‘I am
brahman.’ As a result, it became the Whole. Among the gods, likewise, whosoever realized
this, only they became the Whole. It was the same also among the seers and among the
humans. Upon seeing this very point the seer Vamadeva proclaimed: ‘I was Manu, and I
was the sun.’ This is true even now. If a man knows, ‘I am brahman’ in this way, he becomes
this whole world. Not even the gods are able to prevent it, for he becomes their very self
(atman). So when a man venerates another deity, thinking, ‘He is one, and I am another’, he
does not understand. As livestock is for men, so is he for the gods. As having a lot of livestock
is useful to a man, so each man proves useful to the gods. The loss of even a single head of
livestock is painful; how much more so if many are lost. The gods, therefore, are not pleased
at the prospect of men coming to understand this. (1.4.10)

Extract 1 from Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad by Nick Sutton

This passage opens with another of the famous statements (Mahavakyas) of the Upanishads—
aham brahmasmi, or ‘I am brahman’—and in effect everything else here centres on that
realisation. From the outset the link is established between knowing and becoming. Brahman
is brahman because it knows itself to be brahman, which is further defined as ‘that which is
all things.’ From the next sentence we learn that the same principle applies to gods, great
seers (rishis) and men. If they gain the knowledge implicit in the words aham brahmasmi then
they too will become brahman. It was on the basis of such realisation that the rishi named
Vamadeva came to perceive his identity with Manu and with the sun.

In these lines we have a clear expression of the Upanishadic notion of Advaita and also the
power of true knowledge in creating identity. Any man, god or rishi can attain identity with
brahman, identity with that which is all things, by realised knowledge of that identity. In other
words, one becomes brahman as soon as one knows oneself to be brahman. And in fact one
already is brahman for brahman is all things; but as long as one does not attain this realisation
one lives out an existence as if one were not brahman. Hence we can see here several of
the key principles that lie at the heart of Shankaracharya’s teaching. One’s true identity is
brahman, one’s existence as something other than brahman is an illusion and when one gains
the realisation aham brahmasmi, then the illusory existence ceases, moksha is gained and one
becomes what one truly is, brahman alone. Hence Vamadeva exclaims ‘I am Manu and I am the
sun, because brahman is all things. I am brahman, Manu is brahman and the sun is brahman’.

One who has this realisation no longer exists as a tiny, powerless entity under the absolute
control of the gods. They control every being in this world, but brahman is beyond the gods, it is
the very self of the gods. So the attainment of realisation transforms a person from being under
the sway of the gods to being the very self of the gods and therefore free of their domination.