[Advaita-l] Aham brahmasmi

[sivasenani at yahoo.com]

Etymologically aham meaning self is as basic as it gets; to my knowledge you cannot go beyond the simple statement 'aham means self'. Brahman is from the root bri, to expand; Brahman is that  which has expanded. 

Epistemologically, Veda is the pramana and to many that is sufficient. Aham Brahmasmi being a part of Veda is true on its own account without any need for further substantiation. For those who want to do thought experiments the avasthatraya prakriya establishes that the Self is Brahman. Pl refer to the Mandukya Upanishad and the Karikas thereof for the details of the thought experiment. 

Exegetically, the Brahma Sutras in the very first chapter or book establish that sixteen words are used in the Vedas to mean Brahman. 

Regards
Senani


------Original Message------
From: Jaldhar H. Vyas
Sender: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
ReplyTo: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Sent: 8 Dec 2009 6:12 PM
Subject: [Advaita-l] Aham brahmasmi

[was Re: [Advaita-l] Posting a new message. Please use more descriptive 
subject lines to help people searching the archives.]

On Tue, 8 Dec 2009, Shakthi Prashanth wrote:

> What is the Etymological meaning of Aham Brahmasmi? I know that it 
> pretends to say that I am God. But I want to know its etymological 
> interpretation.

I am Brahman

On hearing this, the sadhaka must begin pondering what is meant by "I" and 
"Brahman"

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org


Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel