Sat Chit Ananda

HARI AUM

Humble salutations to all

Let us today try to analyze the nature of Brahman as Sat Chit Ananda. This has been dealt exhaustively in some of advaitic works like panchadashi, laghu vasudeva mananam etc. Here we will try to analyze it in a simple way so that everybody can understand it easily.

Brahman is the adviteeya vasthu or the only one real entity. Brahman is defined as ekam eva adviteeya or one without a second. Ekam eva adviteeya negates the differences of internal and external. There is nothing whatsoever apart from Brahman. Whatever is seen as the dual world, whatever is seen as sentient entities and whatever is seen as insentient entities are all nothing but the ultimate reality of Brahman alone.

Brahman is SAT or existence because it is eternal and without ceasing to exist. The Lord defines sat and asat in Gita as "na asathah vidhyathe bhaavah, na abhaavo vidhyathe satah" -- asat never has any existence & sat never ceases to exist. Brahman is eternal or nitya, without birth/death or ajam and hence it is SAT (ever existent).

CHIT or Consciousness or bodham alone is capable of illumining existence. The computer screen that we see in front has existence because of the light of consciousness illumining it. BRAHMAN if is not CHIT will be like an insentient rock (unable to illumine other things as well as itself). In such a case, BRAHMAN will not be SAT as it cannot experience its own existence. Thus Brahman has to be CHIT as well. CHIT or Consciousness is that which pulsates as "I-exist, I-exist" and thereby illuminating other entities as well. If there is no CHIT, then there is no existence or nothing at all. Thus SAT and CHIT go hand in hand. Brahman is thus SAT and CHIT.

That which is SAT has to exist beyond all limitations - else the limitation would limit its existence thereby making it have a temporary existence. Since Brahman is SAT, Brahman is beyond all limitations. That which is beyond limitations has to be blissful. The happiness that we get from a small laptop is less than what we get from a car or from a house (as limitations by space are less for car and house than for a laptop). That which is unlimited and infinite is thus blissful. Such an entity when realized will give us eternal bliss. Therefore Brahman is ANANDA as well.

Thus Brahman is of the nature of SAT-CHIT-ANANDA. We will see in the next post as to how jeeva is also SAT-CHIT-ANANDA alone thus proving the statement of Sankara that "jeevo brahmaiva" (jeeva is brahman alone).

Humble salutations to all

HARI AUM