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Aham Brahmasmi' is one of the four Mahavakyas. The Mahavakyas (sing.: mahāvākya, महावाक्य; plural: mahāvākyāni, महावाक्यानि) 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".[1] 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.[2]
The four Upanishadic statements indicate the ultimate unity of the individual (Atman) with God (Brahman).
The Mahavakyas are:
1.prajńānam brahma - "Consciousness is Brahman" (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)
2.ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self (Atman) is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda)
3.tat tvam asi - "Thou art That" (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda)
4.aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)
Brahman means God. rahman (ब्रह्मन् brahman) is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe.Sanskrit Brahman (an n-stem, nominative bráhmā) from a root bṛh " to swell, expand, grow, enlarge" is a neutral noun to be distinguished from the masculine brahmán—denoting a person associated with Brahman, and from Brahmā, the creator God of the Hindu Trinity, the Trimurti. Brahman is thus a gender-neutral concept that implies greater impersonality than masculine or feminine conceptions of the deity. Some Upanishadic statements identify the Atman, the inner essence of the human being, with Brahman.
Vishistadwaitam explains this very well. Teachings and followers of Adwaita believes that the meanning of this means that everything is god. Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त [əd̪ʋait̪ə ʋeːd̪ɑːnt̪ə]) was propounded by Adi Shankara and his grand-guru Gaudapada, who described Ajativada. It is the[5] [6][7] sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy.[8] school of Vedānta, Brahman is the only reality, and the world, as it appears, is illusory. However, Vishishta Dwait explains the meanning of this verse very well.
Vishishtadvaita was propounded by Rāmānuja and says that the jīvātman is a part of Brahman, and hence is similar, but not identical. The main difference from Advaita is that in Visishtadvaita, the Brahman is asserted to have attributes (Saguna brahman), including the individual conscious souls and matter. Brahman, matter and the individual souls are distinct but mutually inseparable entities.While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, the human mind boggles at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Gital explains the concept of (Bhagavad Gita 5.21) "beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination." As Gita says, Mamai Vansho : Chapter 15.The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
So in other words, soul or Atman is not god, but the spirit of god lies within it, meanning that everybody should take care of nature, each other and everybody is powerful. Interpretation of Mahāvākyas1. sarvam khalv idam brahma from Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1
Translated literally, this means All this is Brahman. The ontology of Vishishtadvaita system consists of:
a. Ishvara is Para-brahman with infinite superlative qualities, whose substantive nature imparts the existence to the modes
b. Jivas are chit-brahman or sentient beings (which possess consciousness). They are the modes of Brahman which show consciousness.
c. Jagat is achit-brahman or matter/Universe (which are non-conscious). They are the mode of Brahman which are not conscious.
Brahman is the composite whole of the triad consisting of Ishvara along with his modes i.e. Jivas and Jagat.
2. ayam ātmā brahma from Mandukya Upanishad 1.2
Translated literally, this means the Self is Brahman. From the earlier statement, it follows that on account of everything being Brahman, the self is not different from Brahman.
3. Tat tvam asi from Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7
Translated literally, it means Thou art that
that here refers to Brahman and thou refers to jiva .
Source:Yahoo .
The four Upanishadic statements indicate the ultimate unity of the individual (Atman) with God (Brahman).
The Mahavakyas are:
1.prajńānam brahma - "Consciousness is Brahman" (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)
2.ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self (Atman) is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda)
3.tat tvam asi - "Thou art That" (Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda)
4.aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)
Brahman means God. rahman (ब्रह्मन् brahman) is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe.Sanskrit Brahman (an n-stem, nominative bráhmā) from a root bṛh " to swell, expand, grow, enlarge" is a neutral noun to be distinguished from the masculine brahmán—denoting a person associated with Brahman, and from Brahmā, the creator God of the Hindu Trinity, the Trimurti. Brahman is thus a gender-neutral concept that implies greater impersonality than masculine or feminine conceptions of the deity. Some Upanishadic statements identify the Atman, the inner essence of the human being, with Brahman.
Vishistadwaitam explains this very well. Teachings and followers of Adwaita believes that the meanning of this means that everything is god. Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त [əd̪ʋait̪ə ʋeːd̪ɑːnt̪ə]) was propounded by Adi Shankara and his grand-guru Gaudapada, who described Ajativada. It is the[5] [6][7] sub-school of the Vedānta (literally, end or the goal of the Vedas, Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy.[8] school of Vedānta, Brahman is the only reality, and the world, as it appears, is illusory. However, Vishishta Dwait explains the meanning of this verse very well.
Vishishtadvaita was propounded by Rāmānuja and says that the jīvātman is a part of Brahman, and hence is similar, but not identical. The main difference from Advaita is that in Visishtadvaita, the Brahman is asserted to have attributes (Saguna brahman), including the individual conscious souls and matter. Brahman, matter and the individual souls are distinct but mutually inseparable entities.While Brahman lies behind the sum total of the objective universe, the human mind boggles at any attempt to explain it with only the tools provided by reason. Gital explains the concept of (Bhagavad Gita 5.21) "beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination." As Gita says, Mamai Vansho : Chapter 15.The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
So in other words, soul or Atman is not god, but the spirit of god lies within it, meanning that everybody should take care of nature, each other and everybody is powerful. Interpretation of Mahāvākyas1. sarvam khalv idam brahma from Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1
Translated literally, this means All this is Brahman. The ontology of Vishishtadvaita system consists of:
a. Ishvara is Para-brahman with infinite superlative qualities, whose substantive nature imparts the existence to the modes
b. Jivas are chit-brahman or sentient beings (which possess consciousness). They are the modes of Brahman which show consciousness.
c. Jagat is achit-brahman or matter/Universe (which are non-conscious). They are the mode of Brahman which are not conscious.
Brahman is the composite whole of the triad consisting of Ishvara along with his modes i.e. Jivas and Jagat.
2. ayam ātmā brahma from Mandukya Upanishad 1.2
Translated literally, this means the Self is Brahman. From the earlier statement, it follows that on account of everything being Brahman, the self is not different from Brahman.
3. Tat tvam asi from Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7
Translated literally, it means Thou art that
that here refers to Brahman and thou refers to jiva .
Source:Yahoo .