Idam

This article is about Sanskrit/Tamil/Pali word. For IdAM, Identity and Access Management, seeIdentity Management.

Idam(Sanskrit:इदम् or अयम् or इयम्) is a Sanskrit/Tamil/Pali word which denotes location, position, place. In grammar it is used at the beginning or middle of a sentence as a nominative or attributive pronoun, combined with or withoutya,adds emphasis to other nouns, propositions etc.; and means – this, here or yonder, present or seen nearby, fit for, or without reference to noun refers to एतद् ('that') or to what precedes.

Overview

In theBhagavad Gita(Sloka XVI.13), in the phrase – इदम् अस्तीदम् अपि मे the word,idam,has been used to mean 'this', "this it is, this also mine",and in theBrihadaranyaka Upanishad(Stanza I.i.10) in the phrase – पर्याप्तं त्विदम् एतेषां, meaning "sufficient though that of these",idamused as एतद् refers to 'that', whereas (in Stanza. II.5.9) in the phrase – अयम् स्तनयित्नुः, meaning "Thunder is Vayu",ayamrefers to 'is'. In the phrase – ब्रह्म इदम् सर्वं, which means - "Brahmanpossessing all the qualities is all-pervading ", the wordidamis used in the sense of 'it is', theAtmanis identified withidam sarvamand the same phrase also expresses the whole world because the world springs from the Atman as is indicated in Stanza V.iii.1.In theVedas,idamasayamhas been used as a subject in nominal sentences as an equivalent of a proposition.

Connotation

In Pada 32 of Book II Ch.IV of hisAṣṭādhyāyīPāṇini,who states that words apply per object, explains that: इदमोऽन्वादेशेऽशनुदात्त तृत्यादौ || in the room ofidam'this', in case of its re-employment in a subsequent member of the same sentence and referring to the same thing (anvadeshai.e.adeshaafter re-employment) there is the substitution of as’ which is aanudattai.e. gravely accented, when the third case-affix and the rest follow. That means – अ replaces इदम् in all cases except the nominative and the accusative.In this context Katayayana stipulates that one should specify a pronominal used in subsequently referring to something should be co-referential with a previously used term because replacement by an anaphoric pronoun should not possibly be allowed where there is not co-reference. And, with regard totaddhitaaffixation abstract patterns liketasya idam('prescribing a genitive relationship'),tad asmin('prescribing a locative relationship') andtat karoti('prescribing an action meaning involving an accusative relationship') have been identified.The genitive form ofidamsis explained as asthaneyoga sasthi(Pada I.i.49) and the locative form is explained asparasaptamiwhen a case ending beginning with the instrumental case endings follows. A substitute which has s’ as an it-letter replaces the whole of the original form which step requires ananubandha.

Kaiyata tells us that words withKrtaandTaddithaaffixes denotingbhava('being') extended forbhavato meandravya('object') would result indravya,a pronoun, referring to anything not specified i.e. to an individual object or locus.According toPatanjalithe verb as’ means –bhavaorkriya.The term,Kriyadharma('the properties of an action'), is also used in contrast with the termsdravyadharmaandsattvadharma;and Helaraja states that which has the latter two is something that can be referred to by demonstratives such asidam('this') andtad('that').

InPali language,IdaandIdamare accusative singular neuters as is the originaletadoreghad.InTamilliteratureidamrefers to land, landscape or place, which word is one of the six forming the three sets of oppositions;idampairs in opposition withkalam('time') i.e.idavakupeyarthat gives name to a place or to something in or from that place, andkalavakupeyarwhich applies the name of a time or season to something that occurs in time and season.

Minard (according to whose criteria repetition would imply an adverb and a declined form indicates a pronoun) considersidamin the phraseidam sarvamas an adverb butidamof theShatapatha Brahmana( Stanza 7.4.1.25) firstly implies the article and thereafter 'the All', the Absolute totality which removes the anti-thesis ofayam('this') andasau('yonder world').

Madhvacharyaconsistent withSamkhya philosophyandSayanawithAdvaita Vedanta,takeidamoccurring in the first line – न वि जानामि यदिवेदमस्मि निण्यः संनध्दो मनसा चरामि in Mantra I.164.37 of theRig Vedato mean 'the Universe' instead of its adverbial meaning "here", where the wordsamnaddhomeans ignorance rather than scepticism.

Vedic elucidation

TheBhagavad Gita's and the post-Vedic use ofidamandtadrefers to the Absolute or Brahman or "the All" i.e. to that which theVedicsages sought to clarify. Theidamoccurring in the beginning of Rig Veda mantra X.135.7 refers to the seat ofYamawhere is heard the sound of Yama's flute which no mortal can resist.Idamis the nominative singular neuter demonstrative pronouns, Being and Non-being the singular subject which is one without a second, in which condition it applies to anything falling within the range of human experience.

Advaita elucidation

According toSankara,aham(I-sense secured in introspection,visayi) andidam(thou-sense sense secured in extrospection,visaya) are polarly related, they are as opposed as light and darkness.Idam Brahmanrefers toetadakshara-Brahmanas the objective unity and thetadakshara– Brahman refers to the subject, the Atman i.e. Brahman as Itself, which cannot be an object matter ofpramana-jnanasince the Atman is non-dual and does not have the knowing and the known in it. Reality is to be cognized objectively as anidamas the goal by looking inwards otherwise thevidhi-vakyaswould serve no purpose. Beyond "I" is not any person knower or doer but the transcendental ground of "I", the unspeakable; the indeterminate cannot be spoken about directly. Sankara condemnsavidyaorAdhyasa,the wrong apprehension of a content where it is not nor can ever be, which the true knowledge ofidamor Brahman alone can eradicate. Theidamaspect ofahamkarareflected by the light of the pure self becomes the object of the "I-sense". Brahman cannot be known in the objective attitude as an object somewhere in the beyond as anidam.Advaita Vedanta holds Brahman as the Atman and Brahman asidam sarvam( "all this" ).

Yoga and Shaivite elucidation

TheYogaschool ofHindu philosophyconsiders the Individual Self inseparable from and identical with the Universal Self.Shivarepresents the supreme consciousness Brahman; the subject (consciousness) which is the positiveShiva-tattvais calledahamand the object ('power of consciousness') which is the negativeShakti-tattvais calledidam('this'), the former which pervades the thirty-fivetattvasbeing passive is dependent on Shakti (idam) for creation to occur. The three principal modes of Shakti areiccha-shakti('will power'),jnana-shakti('power of knowledge') andkriya-shakti('power of action').Sadashiva-tattva,which is the first thing with a cause, identified withiccha-shakticonsists of bothaham,andidam,Ishvara-tattvaidentified withjnana-shaktiaccounts forahamrecognizingidam,andSadvidya-tattvaidentified withkriya-shaktiis the complete "subject-object unity".InCit-shakti,Ananda-shakti,Iccha-shakti,Jnana-shaktiandKriya-shaktithesvatantrayaof Shiva is reflected.Shakti-tattvatoo is a reflection ofShiva-shakti.The fourtattvasare not created by the energies of Shiva but are an expression orushma( "heat" ) of His true nature.Suddhavidyais the real state of Shiva or the state ofaham aham-idam idam,Ishvarawhich is the state ofidam-aham,Sadashivais the state ofaham-idamandShaktiis the state ofIdam.In the first section ofaham aham-idam idam,aham ahamsignifies the stable state associated with one's cognition of the real nature of Self, the truth of this universe, and the second sectionidam idamsignifies the unstable state when one experiences the universe is false and unreal. The fourth energy called thepralayakala pramatri shaktimakes one reside in the state ofSuddhavidya.

Shaivismdefinessristi( "Creation" ) as the act of the Supreme Lord makingidam('object') appear through self-manifestation in the background ofakasha(void or space) created by self-limitation or self-negation. HereIdamsignifies theAnatmanwhichIdamtathough not different fromAhamtais not eternal; the self-experience ofAhamtaprevails over the self-experience of indistinctIdamtawhich disappears on attaining thestithistate –aham eva idam( "I am all this" ).Idamta,a self-extension, aids in the realization ofParamshiva.