NAME 106
106. Satyaḥ सत्यः
Repeated at 212 and 869.
He is the embodiment of Truth. Brahman alone is real and everything else is only illusionary. His Reality is concealed by māyā.
Taittirīya Upaniṣad (II.1) says, “satyam jñānam anantam brahma” which means, truth, knowledge and everything else is only Brahma (Brahman). This goes to prove the omnipresent nature of the Brahman. Brahman can be addressed as Truth, or Knowledge or Bliss, etc. He can be addressed by any attribute, as every attribute originates from Him.
Satyah – He is the Truth
The most commonly known meaning for this word is Truth. In the Mahabharata, it says –
Satye pratisthitah krishnah satamasmin pratishthitam|
sattaasatte ca Govindah tasmaat Satyah sataam matah|| (Udyoga Parva 69.12.13)
“Krishna is rooted in Satya and Satya is rooted in Krishna. Existence and non-existence are grounded in Govinda. So great men opine that Krishna is Truth itself”. Sri Adi Sankara gives the following from the Aitreya Aranyaka in support of this – Sat means ‘with a form’ and Tya means ‘without a form’, hence Satyah refers to someone who is both manifested (Vyakta) and unmanifested (avyakta).
There are a few other meanings:
One whose form is made up of Prana, matter and sun. ‘saditi prANAsteetyaNam yamityasAvAdityah’ – Sat means Prana, Ti means Food, and Yam means the Sun. He is satya because His form is made up of Prana, matter and sun.
‘Satsu sadhutvaat Satyah’ – He is Satya because He is well-disposed towards the noble souls.
Taitriya Upanishad defines him as ‘Satya Jnanam Anantam Bramha – He is Truth, Knowledge and Endless’.
Swami ChinmayAnanda points out that in philosophy, Satya is that which is the same in all three periods (past, present, and future). He is the only one who fits this definition, and so He is Satya.
The most commonly known meaning for this word is Truth. The direct support for this interpretation comes from Mahabharata –
“Satye Pratisthitah Krshnah Satamasmin Pratishthitam
Sattasatte Ca Govindah Tasmat Satyah Satam Matah
Krishna is rooted in Satya and Satya is rooted in Krishna. Existence and non-existence are grounded in Govinda. So great men opine that Krishna is Truth itself.
१०६. ॐ सत्याय नमः |
106. OM Satyāya Namaḥ
Satyah –He is the Real. The term Satyam used in philosophy has a special connotation. That which remains the same in all the three periods of time is called Satyam. That which seemingly exists, but which never was nor shall ever be, is considered as a false delusion, A-satya. He who remains the same, before the creation, during the existence and even after the dissolution, is the Infinite Truth, Satyah. The Taittireeya Upanishad thunders that the Eternal Truth is “Truth, Knowledge, Bliss”: “Satyam, Jnaanam, Anantam Brahma” – Taittireeya Upanishad: 2-1.
We may here mention a couple of other meanings that are generally given to this term “The best among good people is Satyam. Again, the word Satyam is made up of three sounds -Sat-ti-yam -and, herein, according to the Upanishad itself, “Sat means praana, ti means food, Yam means sun;” therefore, Sat yam is the Law which orders the food to sustain the praana when both are blessed by the sources of all gross energies in the cosmos, the Sun.
As He is of the form which is not untrue He is Satyaḥ. Or because He is with and without form He is Satyaḥ. Or because He is good to the good people, He is called Satyaḥ.
ॐ सत्याय नमः |
OM Satyāya Namah
INTERPRETATION GUIDED BY SANT VANI (WORDS OF SAINTS)
106. Satyaḥ (also names 212, 869)
i. The Truth.
ii. The one who is both the form and the formless.
The definition of Satya is, that which cannot be negated. That which always IS. That which is the truth of everything and That which cannot be dismissed by anything in all the three periods of time, that alone is satya.
What is the truth of water? It is life sustaining from the practical standpoint and H20 from a chemistry standpoint. Still, what is the true nature of water. Is it Hydrogen? Is it Oxygen? No. If we look at the basic unit of water, the atoms, molecules, what is it that sustains it? What is it that makes water existent? What is its reality? When we look into its constituents, we find that the Isness or consciousness that sustains the atoms, the molecules etc., is real and that alone is real.
So सद (sad) eva satyam. That which is the basis of everything, the truth of everything and that which cannot be negated at any time is satya. We take any form in the universe, it is Isness + form. Even our own bodies are born in time, will die in time. The Isness that we are, the conscious being cannot be negated. The conscious being always is. We are conditioned so much by the conclusion that we are this limited mind-body only that we find it difficult to see the Isness, consciousness, satyam underlying everything. In ‘an existent object’, the use of the word ‘existent’ sounds like an adjective. But what is always here is, Isness or satyam. So what difference does that make to my life? Let Isness be there. So what? That Isness is you which is limitless, ananta. This is the whole purport of the shastra which has to be understood well.
A lump of gold is made into a chain, a coin, a necklace and so on. Even though there are many ornaments, what is there is only gold. Here gold is satya, independent of the ornaments. With reference to the chain, the gold buddhi, the understanding that this is gold, never goes away. When I buy a golden chain, the shopkeeper sells mainly based on the weight of gold, (plus the making charges). When I sell a chain, the shopkeeper sees only the gold. He does not see the sentimental value or the exclusive design and hence does not account for additional charges. The gold buddhi or cognition does not go away. The gold is the truth of the ornaments. But the truth of gold itself is consciousness. So, that which is always there is satya.
Space ‘is,’ Air ‘is,’ fire ‘is,’ water ‘is,’ earth ‘is,’ anything born of earth ‘is.’ Thus, the ‘IS’ never goes away and the “IS’ is the consciousness which never goes away in all the three situations is satya. Time changes and it can be further divided. So, time vyabhicarati, goes away, but consciousness never goes away. Consciousness is satya. Sat eva satyam–existence alone is satya. That which is existence and consciousness is satya. Here the word Satya refers to Īśvara (in masculine gender), and so Īśvara is Satya.
What is mūrta, manifest with forms as fire, water, earth and other elementals is sat. What is amūrta, does not have a tangible form as air and space, are tyat. Both these are nothing but Īśvara. The Lord who is in the form of sat and tyat, that is, the formed and formless, is Satya.
Again, He is known as Satya because He is compassionate towards His bhaktas, who live a life of dharma.
He is the (one) ‘Truth’. “Sat” stands for ‘prāna‘, “Ti” for ‘Annam‘ and “yam” for ‘Surya‘ – i.e. he is the essence of prāna, annam, heat & light which together are the essence of life itself and therefore he is Satyaḥ[Ait Āran;2.1.5.6]. He is Satyaḥ based on the statement in the Śruti: “सत्यम् ज्नञम् अनन्तम् ब्रह्म ॥” (satyam jnañam anantam brahma)[Tait Up; 2.1.1]. It is that Satya that has entered into this world and is seen as that which is both manifested and un-manifested, the real and the unreal, and has become all that is (in the Universe)[Tait Up;2.6.1].(Śaṅkara) Bhagavan is “Satyaḥ” because he is well-disposed and true to those who are pious and devoted.(Parāsara Battar)
That the Supreme Being is the ultimate Truth that there is, is confirmed across multiple Śrutis. The most direct and conclusive statement in support of this, comes from the Mahābhārata (Udyoga Parva; 69.12.13)
satye pratiShThitaH kR^iShNaH satyamatra pratiShThitam.
satyAtsatyaM tu govindastasmAtsatyopi nAmataH .
Sanjaya explains to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the true nature of Kṛṣṇa and why opposing the Pāṇḍavas, particularly with Kṛṣṇa on their side would lead to the utter destruction and decimation of the entire Kuru race. That is when Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sanjaya to reveal the true nature of that ’emissary’ Kṛṣṇa. Sanjaya reveals the “Satyaḥ” (truth) about Kṛṣṇa and it is in this context that the above verse appears.
Sanjaya further goes on to reveal the many names of that Supreme Being who seems to act and behave like any other ordinary being but is actually the manifestation of that very Supreme Being:
——Quote
O King, Sanjaya replied, I will tell you as many names of the Supreme Lord as I know. Keshava, however, is immeasurable and is above the power of speech to describe. He is called Vasudeva in consequence of his covering all creatures with the curtain of illusion, or of His glorious splendor, or of His being the support of the mighty creation. He is called Vishnu because of his all pervading nature. He is called Madhava because He is the husband of the goddess of fortune. O Bharata, He is called Madhusudana, because he once killed the powerful demon Madhu. He was born in the Satvata race and given the name Krishna. The word krish is the attractive feature of the Lord’s existence, and na, means pleasure. When the verb krish is added to the affix na, it becomes Krishna, which indicates the Absolute Truth or the reservoir of all pleasure. He is called Pundarikaksha, meaning one who has lotus-like eyes. He is called Janardana, because he strikes fear into the heart of all atheistic persons. He is also known as Vrishabhakshana. Vrishabha means the Vedas and ikshana means the eye. The union of the two means through the eyes of the scripture He can be seen. The conqueror of hosts is called Aja which means that He is unborn. Krishna is like the sun. The sun appears to take birth on the horizon, but it always exists. Similarly, Krishna appears to take birth from the womb of Devaki, but in actuality He eternally exists. That Supreme Soul is known as Damodara, meaning one who was bound around the waist by His foster mother Yashoda. He is called Hrishikesha because He is the Lord of the senses, and only by His grace can the fleeting senses be controlled. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called Mahavahu, because He holds up the Earth and the sky with His two arms. He is also known as Adhoksaja because He never falls down of suffers deterioration. He is called Narayana because He is the resting place of all living beings. That Supreme Lord is called Purushottama because he is the foremost of all living beings. He possesses knowledge of all things, and is therefore known as Sarva. Truth always resides in Krishna, and He is therefore known as Satya. He is called Ananta because He holds all the planets in their proper orbits. Krishna is the Divine Lord of all beings, and it is He who will come here tomorrow to prevent the slaughter of the Kurus.
——Unquote
Dhṛtarāṣṭra then pleads with his son Duryodhana to heed Sanjaya’s words and recognize that he was going against the ultimate personality of the Universe – that Satyaḥ who is the personification of the Supreme Being.
Duryodhana’s replied thus to his father:
“If the divine son of Devaki, united in friendship with Arjuna, were to kill all persons in the universe, I still would not take shelter of He who is my enemy.”
There are moments when that Satyaḥ reveals himself to some and at other times he gives hints of his presence both in the Universe at large and also as the in-dwelling being within each one of us. It is for us to realize these moments of grace and revelation…and discover our own Truth.
“Buddha propounded that there is no God or a supreme creator. Krishna declared that He is the God. Einstein said that everything is the sum total of energy. Meera found her truth in Krishna, Ramakrishna Parmahansa in Kali, Tulsidasa in Rama, Sankracarya in the formless and many others found there own versions of the truth. Most people agree that kama, krodha, ahamkara, etc are not good for them; why do they still engage in them? I wanted to experience my own truth.
Self-realization is no serendipity. It is not an aha moment. Intellectual comprehension of such realization may well be an epiphany, the actual realization is far from it. Self-realization can be achieved by anyone who is willing to put in the effort. Dawning of such realization will leave you with only answers. You will no longer have any questions. Intellectually, you may understand the underlying philosophy or doctrinal principles but such an understanding may only make you more rigid. You will end up merely subscribing to a theory with no confirmation about its validity.
If you believe that the Divine has a form, you can see his form in this very lifetime. If you believe that the Divine is formless, you can experience deep absorption (samadhi) in the foreseeable future. That is what I experienced multiple times. Your world is made up of your thoughts. If your world has a God in it and all your thoughts, all the time, are about Him, His very form will manifest before you.
If your world has bliss and all your thoughts, all the time, are focused on such bliss you will experience such bliss. That is a tough ask though because a perfectly stable and still mind is required to meditate on one thought for prolonged periods. It can be achieved with an initial intense effort.
The truth is very simple and you all know it too. But experiencing it is an entirely different ballgame. Most people know right from wrong, yet why do they find themselves engaging in unscrupulous and undesirable acts repeatedly? That is because their mind is not tamed.
A restless mind and its modifications (citta vritti) drive them towards experiencing and enjoying the world through their body alone. Purity of discipline, whether in bhakti or in dhyana can help you tame your mind. You will then experience an indescribable, incessant flow of bliss. I used to read about it and had some experiences far and few in between. The actual sustained experience of samadhi is an incredible one. The bliss stays with you all the time with very little effort afterward.
I would like to elucidate the difference between intellectual comprehension of the truth and actually experiencing it. Suppose that someone is suffering from cataract. That person is aware of his visual impairment. Is that awareness adequate to correct his vision? He knows where the problem is and he knows that the resultant effect is his inability to see correctly. He is also aware that undergoing a procedure to remove the cataract will fix his vision. Intellectually, he gets it. He understands it. That awareness does not help him in seeing unhindered though.
His impairment is not the result of any intellectual malfunction. Therefore, it can not be fixed with any intellectual comprehension or correction. He must undergo the procedure to correct his vision. Similarly, your distorted view of the world or your deluded mind (Citta) is not an intellectual problem.
Subscribing to any philosophy or believing a certain theory to be the truth – both of which are functions of the mind – is not going to help you uncover your true self let alone any samadhi or a darsana of your deity. The most beautiful thing is that you can experience your true nature and you can experience that incessant flow of bliss by taming your mind. A mind that’s not settled and under complete control will render you unable to perform devotional service (bhakti) or meditation (dhyana) correctly and purely. In the absence of such purity, you are unlikely to experience anything profound.” – Om Swami
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