Aham Brahmasmi

(“I am Brahman.”) In the Hindu philosophical tradition, this is one of the four
“great utterances” (mahavakyas)
expressing an ultimate truth. The
truth expressed in this utterance is the
idea that atman (the individual Self )
and Brahman (Ultimate Reality) are
one and the same—identical; this
truth is at the heart of the speculative
texts called the Upanishads. The four
mahavakyas, aside from their philosophical importance as capsulizing
fundamental truths, were also appropriated by the four divisions of the
Dashanami Sanyasi ascetics as identifying symbols. Each division had a
different mahavakya, just as each had
a different Veda, a different primary
sacred center, and a different
paradigmatic ascetic quality. Aham
Brahmasmi is the mahavakya associated with the Bhuriwara division of the
Dashanami Sanyasis.