Tajjalan
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Tajjalān is one of the few enigmatic methods in Hinduism employed by the Upanishadic seers to describe Reality or Brahman. It is a cosmological approach to the problem of Reality in the context of creation etc.
Meaning of Tajjalān
Tajjalān (
सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म तज्जलानिति शान्त उपासीत
sarvam khalvidam brahman tajjalān iti shānta upāsita
All this (collectively) is Brahman, indeed: what evolves from That, what dissolves in That, what breathes or functions in That, should be closely and calmly studied…….— Chandogya Upanishad III.14.1
In
Implications
Tajjalān is a riddle that describes positively the three basic attributes of Brahman concerning explaining the process of creation etc. from the primeval
Significance
Tajjalān is the mysterious name of the universe as identified with Brahman which word summarises the three attributes of Brahman - as creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe, and presents the universe as non-different from Brahman in all three periods, past, present and future [9][10] This is the cosmological proof for the existence of God, which also means that the individual soul is non-limited in its essential nature even though owing to abundance of ignorance it acquires various names and forms to become limited. The phrase, Tajjalān, supplies the reason to explain the mahavakya - "All this is Brahman".[11] This phrase is one of the two well-known examples of the cosmological approach to the problem of Reality.[12] Shandilya’s declaration – सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म तज्जलानिति शान्त उपासीत, recommending meditation on Brahman with the aid of the word, Tajjalān, which word as a compressed formula summarizes the three attributes of the changeless Brahman, draws attention to the fact that the act of meditation (upāsita) must have an object to meditate upon.[13][14]
References
- ^ "Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary".
- ISBN 9780766171985.
- ^ Swami Gambhirananda. Chandogya Upanishad. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. p. 208.
Verse 14.1
- ^ Ramachandra Dattatrya Ranade (1986). A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 23.
- ISBN 9788176251488.
- ISBN 9788120816374.
- ^ Ramachandra Dattatrya Ranade (1986). A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic philosophy. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 53.
- ^ Adi Shankara. Brahma-Sutra-Bhasya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. p. 13.
- ISBN 9788176251488.
- ISBN 9780486427171.
- ISBN 9781419186622.
- ISBN 9788130706603.
- ISBN 9788177553659.
- ISBN 9788188071524.