Svetaketu - Tat Tvam Asi

Dadi: "Guddu, if you studied very hard for twelve years and learned everything in your textbooks, would you know everything?"

Guddu: "I'd know a lot! Everything in school, at least."

Dadi: "Tonight I'll tell you about a student named Svetaketu who learned ALL the Vedas in twelve years - and then discovered he knew almost nothing."

Guddu: "How can you know everything and know nothing?"

Dadi: "That's exactly what his father showed him. Svetaketu was the son of the sage Uddalaka Aruni. At twelve years old, he was sent to study with teachers. At twenty-four, he returned home."

Guddu: "Twelve years of study!"

Dadi: "He came back 'swell-headed and arrogant' - very proud of all his learning, thinking himself highly accomplished. His father observed this pride and asked a profound question."

Guddu: "What did he ask?"

Dadi: "'My son, you seem very impressed with yourself. But did you ever ask for that teaching by which we hear what cannot be heard, perceive what cannot be perceived, know what cannot be known?'"

Guddu: "What kind of knowledge is that?"

Dadi: "Exactly what Svetaketu asked! His father then began to teach him through examples. He asked: 'If you know what clay is, do you know all things made of clay?'"

Guddu: "Like pots and bricks and tiles?"

Dadi: "Yes! Different names, different shapes, but all essentially clay. He said the same about gold - knowing gold means knowing all golden jewelry. And iron - knowing iron means knowing all iron tools."

Guddu: "So there's one basic thing behind all the different things?"

Dadi: "You're understanding it! The father continued: 'In the beginning, there was Being alone, one only, without a second. It thought, "May I be many, may I grow forth." And from that one Being came fire, water, earth, and all creation.'"

Guddu: "So everything comes from one source?"

Dadi: "The father used beautiful examples to show this. He talked about rivers: 'Rivers flow toward the ocean from all directions. When they merge into the ocean, they lose their individual identity. They don't remember, "I am this river" or "I am that river." They're just ocean.'"

Guddu: "We're all like rivers going back to one ocean?"

Dadi: "Then he asked about a great banyan tree. 'Bring me a fruit,' he said. Svetaketu brought one. 'Break it.' He broke it. 'What do you see?' 'Tiny seeds.' 'Break one seed.' 'Nothing - it's too small to see.'"

Guddu: "What was the lesson?"

Dadi: "'That subtle essence which you cannot perceive - from THAT this great tree grows. That invisible thing is the truth behind everything. And YOU, Svetaketu, are THAT.'"

Guddu: "I'm... what?"

Dadi: "'Tat tvam asi' - 'That thou art.' This is one of the greatest statements in all our scriptures. It means: the divine essence that created the universe and exists in everything? That's what you truly are."

Guddu: "I'm the same as... everything?"

Dadi: "The father gave another example. 'Put salt in water overnight.' The next morning he asked, 'Bring me the salt.' But Svetaketu couldn't find it - it had dissolved. 'Taste the water from the top.' 'Salty.' 'From the middle.' 'Salty.' 'From the bottom.' 'Salty.'"

Guddu: "The salt was everywhere even though he couldn't see it!"

Dadi: "'Just like that,' the father said, 'the divine essence pervades everything - you cannot see it, but it's there. And YOU are THAT.'"

Guddu: "Dadi, this is deep. My head hurts a little."

Dadi: "*laughing softly* Svetaketu asked for more and more explanations. The father repeated 'Tat tvam asi' nine times, each time with a new example, until the teaching finally penetrated his son's proud mind."

Guddu: "What did Svetaketu finally understand?"

Dadi: "That knowing facts isn't the same as knowing truth. He had memorized scriptures but missed their essence. The essence is simple: you are not separate from the divine. The same consciousness that created stars and rivers flows through you right now."

Guddu: "That makes me feel... big. And small. Both at once."

Dadi: "That's exactly right! Big because you're connected to everything. Small because your ego is just a tiny wave in an infinite ocean. That's why Svetaketu's pride dissolved after this teaching - how can you be arrogant when you realize everyone and everything shares the same divine source?"

Guddu: "'Tat tvam asi' - I am that."

Dadi: "Remember those words, beta. When you feel alone, remember you're connected to everything. When you feel small, remember you contain the infinite. When you feel proud, remember so does everyone else. Now sleep, my little ocean."

Guddu: "Goodnight, Dadi. Tat tvam asi."

Dadi: "*kissing his forehead* And thou art that. Always."