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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
Nevertheless, the old
terminology of the Taittiriyopanisad of referring to the visible
world as 'sat' and to the Parabrahman as 'asat' or as 'tyat'
( THAT = that which is beyond ) has not been totally exter-
minated ; and what the original meaning of the description
of the Brahman in the Gita [1] as 'OM-Tat-Sat' must
have been, can very clearly be seen by reference to the old
terminology. 'OM' is a Vedic prayer in the form of a mystic
word, and it has been explained in various ways in the
Upanisads [2]. 'tat' means 'THAT',
that is, the indescribable Element which is far beyond the
visible world, and 'sat' is the visible world which can be seen
by the eyes ; and this canon means that these three together
constitute the Brahman. And it is with this import that the
Blessed Lord has said in the Gita[3] that "sad asac-
caham arjuna", that is, "sat is the Parabrahman and asat is
the visible world, and I am both". Still, in as much as the
Gita propounds the Karma-Yoga, it has been explained at the
-end of the seventeenth chapter that by taking the word 'sat'
in the canon, OM-Tat-Sat, as meaning
Action, which is good from the point of view of respectability, or which has been
done with a good intention, or of which the result is good,
and by taking the word 'tat' as meaning, Action, which is
beyond the above-mentioned Action, that is, which has been
performed by giving up the desire for fruit, as and when
occasion arises to use that canon, the doctrine of Karma-Yoga
can be fully supported on the basis of this description of the
Brahman. As that which has been referred to as 'sat' in the
canon, is nothing else but the visible world, that is to say,
Karma (See the next chapter), this interpretation of the
definition of the Brahman in terms of Karma, easily arises
out of the original interpretation. There are to be found in the
Upanisads other descriptions of the Brahman than 'om-tatsat',
" neti neti ', ' saccidananda ' and ' satyasya satyam '; but as they
are not necessary for understanding the meaning of the Gita,
I have not given them here.
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