Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 47-2. - Swami Krishnananda.

 ========================================================================

=========================================================================

Monday, August 01, 2022. 19:45.

Discourse 47: The Seventeenth Chapter Concludes – The Meaning of Om Tat Sat : 2.

=========================================================================

BG-17.25

"Tad ity anabhisandhaya phalam yajna-tapah-kriyah
dana-kriyash cha vividhah kriyante moksha-kankshibhih."

yajna, dana and tapas are associated with the other letter, Tat, in the same way as Om is associated with yajna, dana and tapas, and with all religious performances. Sat is the third symbol, which signifies goodness. We say satsanga, sant, saint, mahatma, which all come from the word ‘Sat'. Sacchabdaḥ pārtha yujyate: Whenever there is something good or saintly, we call that Sat. Whenever there is something auspicious, then also we use the word Sat in regard to that auspicious beginning. The words yajna, dana and tapah—sacrifice, austerity and charity—are repeated again and again, but they become stable and meaningful, and bear the requisite fruit, only when they are associated with Sat, or Pure Existence. All the activities that we perform for the sake of fulfilling yajna, dana and tapas—karma caiva tadarthīyaṁ—anything that we do for the welfare of our own self as well as that of others, for the fulfilment of our spiritual aspirations, all come under Sat, or immense goodness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually, the terms ‘Tat' and ‘Sat' signify the transcendent aspect of Brahman and the immanent aspect of Brahman, both of which are blended together in a universalised connotation, or denotation, as we may call it, which is Om. The Supreme Being is called Om because of the inclusiveness of the Supreme Being. Though the Supreme Being is inclusive, it manifests itself as transcendent and immanent when creation takes place. We are in this world of creation, and we know very well that every nook and corner and particle of every atom is pervaded and indwelt by the Supreme Brahman, yet this Brahman is not exhausted in this world. The whole of Brahman is present in this world, and yet the whole of Brahman is above this world. 

Pūrṇam adaḥ, pūrṇam idam, pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate (Isa). 

The whole Brahman manifests the whole universe, and the whole Brahman enters wholly into this whole universe. Though the whole Brahman enters wholly into this universe, the transcendent aspect of Brahman is not in any way affected by this entry of Brahman into the cosmos.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The usual idea of location that we have in our minds is that if we are in one place, we cannot be in another place; and if Brahman is inside this world, Brahman cannot be outside the world. That is to say, if God is involved in this world as the immanent principle enveloping the whole world completely, there would be no God left beyond the world. There would be no transcendence. But it is not so. The entire Brahman remains there, uninvolved in the creational process in spite of the entire Brahman controlling the whole universe and entering into it, even to the smallest particle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thus, the Tat is the transcendent, the other words impossible to grasp, beyond the reaches of space and time; and the Sat is that very same thing involved in this creation. It is here, and also there. Our minds have a peculiar difficulty in imagining the connection between transcendence and immanence because we always think that transcendence means something getting beyond our control and remaining far above, so distant from us that we cannot even imagine where it is. Far, far, infinitely far, is that unreachable Supreme Brahman. But Brahman which is so far, apparently unreachable even by the mind with its speed of thought, is also here, immanently involved as the soul of all beings. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Therefore, it is necessary to visualise a total picture of this transcendent existence as well as the immanent existence of God, and to overcome the limitations of the mind which compel us to make a distinction between that which is far and that which is near. We cannot, even for a moment, imagine how something that is very far away can also be something that is very near. It is impossible to imagine such a thing. The near thing cannot be the distant thing. But here is a peculiar situation where the most distant thing is also the nearest. That is the reason why we say that spatial definitions are not to be introduced into the characterisation of Brahman, the Absolute.

*****

To be continued .....

=========================================================================