Mahāvākyas

thumb|alt=The Poetic Form of an Alternate Version of the Mahavakyas|The Poetic Form of an Alternate Version of the Mahavakyas

The Mahāvākyas (sing.: , ; plural: , ) are the 'Great Sayings' of the Upanishads, with mahā meaning 'great' and vākya ''sentence'. The Mahāvākyas are traditionally considered to be four in number, though actually five are prominent in the post-Vedic literature: () – literally translated as 'That Thou Art' ('That is you' or 'You are that'), appears in Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda, with tat in Ch.U. 6.8.7 referring to *sat, 'the Existent', and contextually understood as 'That's how [thus] you are', with tat in Ch.U. 6.12.3 referring to 'the very nature of all existence as permeated by [the finest essence]'. () – 'I am Brahman', or 'I am absolute' (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda) () – 'Prajñāna is Brahman', or 'Brahman is Prajñāna' (Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda) () – 'This Self (Atman) is Brahman' (Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda) – 'All this indeed is Brahman'(Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1)