Context
Ribhu reveals the great declaration 'Tat Tvam Asi' - You Are That - as direct self-knowledge rather than a concept to believe.
The Dialogue
Nidagha: "Master, the scriptures declare 'Tat Tvam Asi'—You are That. But when I repeat these words, nothing changes. I still feel like a limited person."
Ribhu: "You are not asked to feel like Brahman. You are asked to recognize that you have never been anything else."
Nidagha: "But I experience limitation. I experience birth, growth, decay."
Ribhu: "Who experiences these? Find that one."
Nidagha: "I do. Nidagha experiences them."
Ribhu: "What is this 'I' before you add 'Nidagha' to it? What is the pure 'I' that knows it is experiencing?"
Nidagha: "...It is simply awareness. Knowing itself."
Ribhu: "That awareness—does it have birth? Does it grow? Does it decay?"
Nidagha: "No. It simply is."
Ribhu: "THAT is what 'You Are That' points to. Not Nidagha is Brahman—that would make the limited unlimited. But the 'I' that knows Nidagha, the awareness that witnesses the body-mind—THAT is Brahman. THAT is what you truly are."
Nidagha: "Then Nidagha is..."
Ribhu: "An appearance in You. A costume worn by the Infinite. A role played by That which never becomes the role. You are not a person who has awareness. You are Awareness pretending to be a person."
Nidagha: "I am That."
Ribhu: "Now you speak truth. Not as repetition, but as recognition."
✨ Key Lesson
The mahavakya 'You Are That' is not a belief to adopt but a recognition to have—the 'I' that knows all experience is itself the unlimited Brahman.