The Mahavakyas are "The Great Sayings" of the Upanishads, as characterized by the Advaita school of Vedanta.

Most commonly, Mahavakyas are considered four in number,

Prajnanam Brahma (प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म)
Aham Brahma Asmi (अहम् ब्रह्म अस्मि)
Tat Tvam Asi (तत् त्वम् असि)
Ayam Atma Brahma (अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म)

Though there are many Mahavakyas, four of them, one from each of the four Vedas, are often mentioned as "the Mahavakyas". According to the Vedanta-tradition, the subject matter and the essence of all Upanishads is the same, and all the Upanishadic Mahavakyas express this one universal message in the form of terse and concise statements.In later Sanskrit usage, the term mahāvākya came to mean "discourse", and specifically, discourse on a philosophically lofty topic.

According to the Advaita Vedanta tradition the four Upanishadic statements indicate the ultimate unity of the individual (Atman) with Supreme (Brahman).

The Mahavakyas are:

prajñānam brahma - "Prajñāna is Brahman", or "Brahman is Prajñāna" (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)

ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self (Atman) is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda)

tat tvam asi - "Thou art That" (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda)

aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman", or "I am Divine" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)

People who are initiated into sannyasa in Advaita Vedanta are being taught the four [principal] mahavakyas as four mantras, "to attain this highest of states in which the individual self dissolves inseparably in Brahman".

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"Children of immortal bliss" — what a sweet, what a hopeful name! Allow me to call you, brethren, by that sweet name — heirs of immortal bliss — yea, the Hindu refuses to call you sinners. Ye are the Children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. Ye divinities on earth — sinners! It is a sin to call a man so; it is a standing libel on human nature. Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter.
- Swami Vivekananda

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Swami Vivekananda - The Inspirational Leader @vsiitk @belurmathofficial @ramakrishnamathhyd @chennaimath @mangalurumath

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