Yajur Veda · Shukla Yajur Veda (Sāmānya-Vedānta Upanishad group) · 52 mantras
Paingala Upanishad
Paiṅgalopaniṣad
Central theme: Atman-Brahman identity unfolded through Yajnavalkya's instruction to Paingala
Mahavakya
तत्त्वमसि
Tat tvam asi
“That thou art.”
— Paingala 2.6
Four chapters recording the disciple Paingala's twelve-year inquiry under Yajnavalkya. Chapter 1 lays out the cosmogony — the pre-cosmic Brahman, its reflection in maya, the unfolding of the five elements, the three bodies (sthula, sukshma, karana) and the three avasthas. Chapter 2 takes the mahavakya "Tat tvam asi" apart pada-by-pada — tat (lakshyartha = pure Brahman), tvam (jiva minus upadhis), asi (the indivisible identity) — the classic Advaita jahad-ajahal-lakshana exegesis later codified by Shankara and Sureshvara. Chapter 3 is the jivanmukti / videhamukti distinction; Chapter 4 closes with the post-realisation conduct of the knower.
Paingala 2.6
तत्पदं लक्ष्यते ब्रह्म त्वंपदं जीव उच्यते । असिपदैक्यसम्बन्धस्तत्त्वमस्यादिवाक्यतः
Tat-padaṁ lakṣyate brahma tvaṁ-padaṁ jīva ucyate, asi-padaikya-sambandhas tat-tvam-asy-ādi-vākyataḥ
The word "tat" indicates Brahman, the word "tvam" the jiva; the word "asi" establishes their identity — this is the import of "Tat tvam asi" and the great sayings.
Strip tat of cosmic upadhi, strip tvam of personal upadhi — what remains in both is one.