Chapter 17: Śraddhā-traya-vibhāga-yoga: / Verse 23

To make life meaningful and noble, one has to cultivate discrimination, dropping the undesirable traits and imbibing the desirable ones. Krishna explains the process of developing goodness, nobility and benevolence by presenting three ancient cultural utterances, to be practised with dedication and fervour. These will instil inner purity and enrichment. Their effects are time-tested.

Brāhmanas are treasure-keepers and disseminators of purity, austerity and spiritual wisdom. Taking up Vedic study and observances right from birth, they distance themselves from sensory pleasures, which breed delusion and distortion. With their daily observances, Gāyatr¢ recitation and allied disciplines, they unravel the inner splendour, the source of all experiences and knowledge.

Others adore Brāhmanas, given as they are to austere life of inner absorption and enlightenment. As they do not take up any lucrative profession, the society respectfully looks after their needs, letting them free to pursue their own spiritual excellence for the benefit of the society.

OM is a combination of three sounds – A, U and M, representing the three states of being: wakeful (outward, gross), dream (inward, subtle), and deep sleep or sushupti (causal, unmanifest). The syllable as a whole brings in the Fourth (turīya), the transcendental, which is the everpresent Consciousness manifesting the three states.

All the three words “Om Tat Sat” individually and collectively define Brahman, the supreme, transcendental Reality. Pronouncing these three words while commencing or performing any activity connects our mind and intelligence to Brahman. It reminds us that whatever we do is an expression of the Divine, is to be offered to the Divine.

The utterance “Om Tat Sat” has the mystic power to instil spiritual enrichment in the human. In order to live in this heterogeneous world of multiple tendencies, chant this triplet faithfully, grow with its spiritual grace and grandeur. Besides using these as a regular chant, reflect also on what they mean and denote. Chanting will pacify the mind and reflection will make the intelligence more and more perceptive.