Tam Aham Vande

Tam Aham Vande is a very significant expression that one finds in one of the Dhyana Slokas, of Shrimad Bhagawad Geetha, composed by Shri Madhusudhana Saraswathy, a great Advaitin.

Here is the verse:

मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिं ।
यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्द माधवम् ॥

Photo courtesy: http://www.greenmesg.org/stotras/krishna/mukam_karoti_vacalam.php

The verse essentially says, the Grace of the Lord makes the Impossible, Possible. It is both a necessary and sufficient condition.

This spontaneous outpouring of Bhakti bhavana, represented by the expression Tam Aham Vande, is a natural consequence of the conscious recognition of Ishwara's bountiful grace. The sincere Bhakta looks back at his / her life and takes stock of the distance traveled, the height climbed and contrasts it with his personal strength and capabilities. He is astonished at the what he has achieved, and becomes distinctly aware of Ishwara's Kripa, without which he couldn't have ever imagined to accomplish.

Having said this much, I would like to dwell upon the four types of Kripas, Grace, namely, Ishwara Kripa, Shastra Kripa, Guru Kripa and Atma Kripa, which I wish to take up in my next post.....

AhamVande