तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु (tEjasvi nAvadhItamastu) - May what we have learnt make us resplendent

The value of knowledge (here specifically “adhItam” - that which is learnt) has been elaborated upon in several places, and is intuitively also something that rings true.

My school (Birla Vidya Niketan in New Delhi) had the following motto, taken from verse 11 of the ISa upaniSad

विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते - vidyayA amrutam aSnutE (“They gain immortality through knowledge”)

What is immortality here? It certainly does not mean freedom from death in the physical sense. For the person who has acquired true knowledge of the self,  it implies freedom from the cycle of births. 

But what about the impact of one’s knowledge on others? The knowledgeable ones’ name, earned through the impact they make on others, remains long after their physical death - that is their immortality. 

The respect and name a scholar earns is unique. Saint Tiruvalluvar has again captured this beautifully is one of his kuraLs (adhikAram 7, kuraL 69)

ஈன்ற பொழுதின் பெரிதுவக்கும் தன்மகனைச்

சான்றோன் எனக்கேட்ட தாய்

InRRa pozhudin perituvakkum tanmakanaich

CAnRRon enakkeTTa tAi

“A mother relishes the moment her child is hailed as a scholar more than the joy she got when she bore that child.” 

This is again a very special one personally … Heard it from my mother the first time she came to my school for an annual prize distribution ceremony.

The above are along the normally explored lines of explanation for “tEjasvi nAvadhItamastu” … how knowledge learnt adds splendour to the teacher and the student both. I want to explore one more line of thought on this. The verse uses the word tEjasvin (resplendent) to describe what the teacher and student want for themselves, after protection, abundance and the ability to do great things. 

The word tEjas has several meanings, including sharpness, lustre, brilliance etc. All of them fit beautifully in the context of a knowledgeable person being tEjasvin, or full of tEjas.

One of the terms for fire in Sanskrit is tEjas. If we see tEjasvin as being burnished by fire, we get another interesting dimension to this verse. 

The Lord says in the first line of verse 4.38 of the Bhagavad Gita

न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते - na hi gnyAnEna sadruSam pavitramih vidyatE

“Surely, there is nothing that purifies (a person) as knowledge does”

Fire is the ultimate purifier of anything! So, can we interpret tejasvin as being purified by what we have learnt (adhItam)?

tEjasvi nAvadhItamastu - may we both be burnished (as if by fire) through what we have learnt

P.S.: This also completes the loop on the OB theories of Maslow and Alderfer. This inner glow that tEjasvin implies maps quite well to the final self-actualisation stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and to Growth, the G stage of Alderfer’s ERG. 

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Benedictory verse from the 2nd part (brahmAnandavalli) of the taittiriya upaniSad 

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु  मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

OM saha nAvavatu |

saha nau bhunaktu |

saha vIryaM karavAvahai |

tejasvi nAvadhItamastu mA vidviShAvahai |

OM shAntiH shAntiH shAntiH ||

Isha Upanishad 11

विद्यां चाविद्यां च यस्तद्वेदोभयँ सह ।

अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते ॥ ११॥

vidyAm CAvidyAm Ca yastadvEdObhayam sah

avidyaya mrutyum tirtva vidyaya amrutam ashnute || 11 ||

Bhagavad Gita 4:38

न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते |

तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्ध: कालेनात्मनि विन्दति || ४-३८ ||

na hi jñānena sadṛiśhaṁ pavitramiha vidyate

tatsvayaṁ yogasansiddhaḥ kālenātmani vindati || 4-38 ||