jiva Rāmānujā chooses to take the position of universal identity. He interprets this passage to mean the subsistence of all attributes in a common underlying substratum. This is referred to as samānādhikāraṇya. Thus Rāmānujā says the purport of the passage is to show the unity of all beings in a common base. Ishvara (Parabrahman) who is the Cosmic Spirit for the pan-organistic body consisting of the Universe and sentient beings, is also simultaneously the innermost self (Ātman) for each individual sentient being (Jīva). All the bodies, the Cosmic and the individual, are held in an adjectival relationship (aprithak-siddhi) in the one Isvara. Tat tvam asi declares that oneness of Ishvara. When multiple entities point to a single object, the relationship is established as one of substance and its attributes. For e.g. in a statement: Jack is a tall and intelligent boy The descriptors tall-ness, intelligence and boy-ness all refer to a common underlying Jack Similarly, when the Upanishads declare Brahman is the Universe, Purusha, Self, Prana, Vayu, and so on, the entities are attributes or modes of Brahman. If the statement tat tvam asi is taken to mean as only the self is Brahman, then sarvam khalv idam brahma will not make sense. Understanding Neti-Neti This is an Upanishadic concept which is employed while attempting to know Brahman. The purport of this exercise is understood in many different ways and also influences the understanding of Brahman. In the overall sense, this phrase is accepted to refer to the indescribable nature of Brahman who is beyond all rationalisations. Taittiriya Upanishad 2-9-1 passage "yato vacho nivartante.." (words recoil, mind can not grasp...) etc., state the same concept regarding Brahman. The visishtadvaita interpretation is that these passages do not indicate a black hole, but the incompleteness of any statement or thought or concept concerning Brahman. Brahman is these and more. This interpretation is consistent with "sarvam khalv idam brahma". Antaryami Brahmana of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad passage "yasya prithvi shariram yasya atma shariram" is also interpreted to show that Brahman is not a zero point - "nirvisesha chinmatra" (an entity which has nothing except existence) The typical interpretation of Neti-Neti is not this, not this or neither this, nor that. It is a phrase meant to convey the inexpressibility of Brahman in words and the futility of trying to approximate Brahman with conceptual models. In VisishtAdvaita, the phrase is taken in the sense of not