Lord Krishn tells Arjun on how the three names
Om, Tat, and Sat,
symbolizing God,
direct us to the Supreme Being
and
call him to mind.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Om, Tat , and Sat are three epithets
used for the Supreme Being
from whom at the outset
there came forth the
Brahmin, Ved, and yagya.”

It is he who, at the beginning, created the Brahmin, the Ved, and yagya.
That is to say that Brahmin, the Ved, and yagya are all born from OM,
the symbol of Brahm.

Thus it could also be said that they have all ensued from yog.
They are generated only by ceaseless contemplation of OM,
and
other than this there is no way.

“It is hence that the deeds of yagya,
charity, and penance,
as ordained by scripture, are always initiated
by
the devotees of Ved
with a resonant utterance of the syllable OM.”

It is owing to this that performance of the ordained worship,
benevolence and penance by persons
who concern themselves with God ever commences with an articulation
of
the sacred OM,
for this utterance reminds one of that Supreme Being.

Lord Krishn then elaborates the meaning and use of Tat.

“Stripped of desire for any reward
and
holding
that God is all pervading,
persons who aspire to the ultimate bliss
embark on the tasks of yagya, penance, and charity
as
ordained by scripture.”

Tat denotes surrender to God.
Stated differently, one has to recite OM
and
take up the accomplishment of yagya, alms-giving, and penance
with absolute trust in Tat, i.e., that God.

Lord Krishn next elucidates the meaning and use of Sat.

“Sat is employed to express the ideas
of
truth and excellence,
and,
O Parth,
the word is also used to denote a propitious act.”

At the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita,
Arjun held forth that family traditions alone were permanent and real.
That provoked Lord Krishn to ask him how he had become a victim
of
such a deluded notion.

That which is real is never absent at any time
and
it cannot be annihilated,
whereas that which is unreal has no existence at any time,
and
it cannot be otherwise.

Now what is that which never has a being?

Lord Krishn affirmed while resolving these questions
that
the Self alone is real
and also
that the bodies of all living beings are perishable.
The Self is eternal, imperceptible, permanent, and immortal.
This is the paramount truth.
Lord Krishn remarks that this epithet of the Supreme Being,
viz, Sat,
refers to truth
and
thus to the sense of perfection.

Arjun is further told that the expression Sat is employed
when the commencement of the undertaken task is complete
in every respect
and
well under way.

Sat by no means implies that all these objects are ours.

How can things our physical bodies make use of belong to us
when we are not masters of even our own persons?

The application of Sat is ever aimed in the same direction-of faith
in the verity that the Self is the most sublime reality.
The word Sat is used when there is firm belief in this truth,
when there is a hankering after perfection to realize this truth,
and
when the action that effects this realization begins to get along well.

On the same subject of reality the Yogeshwar speaks again.

“And it is said that the condition inherent
in
yagya, penance, and charity,
as well as the endeavour to attain to God,
is
also real.”

Only action that is entered upon for the attainment of God is real;
and
yagya, alms-giving,
and
atonement are but complements to this undertaking.

Finally, Lord Krishn affirms decisively that faith is an essential requisite
of
all these undertakings.

“Therefore, O Parth, is it said that, devoid of faith,
the oblation and alms that are offered
and
the penance that is suffered,
as well as all other similar ventures,
are
all false,
for
they can do us good
neither
in this world
nor
in the next.”

All that is done
without
genuine trust and reverence-whether sacrifice or charity or self-mortification
by
way of contrition-is unreal.

This is said, for such deeds are beneficial
neither
in this life
nor
after death.

Faith combined with self-surrender
is,
therefore, a crucial necessity.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~