152 - Meaning of Om Tat Sat | Swami Tattwamayananda

Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

Title: Meaning of Om Tat Sat
17th Chapter: verses 20, 21, 22, 23
Yajna, Dana, and Tapah – these spiritual principles have the triple dimensions of Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika.
Yajna refers to any noble, unselfish deed that is done with a sense of sanctity and sacredness and as an offering to God. Our everyday activities can be spiritualized when we perform them as yajna. Then there is no difference between the shrine and the workplace. Any activity not done as yajna becomes a bondage – it is an invisible chain that binds us to the world.
Dana refers to any act of compassion, kindness and charity meant to help others.
Tapah means austerity, activities that we do with total dedication and with a sense of going beyond the body-mind complex.
20th verse: “Charity done with the attitude “It is my duty to help this person”, done in the right manner without any expectation of return, given to someone who is in need of it, who will use it for constructive purpose, and done at the right place and time – such charity is Sattvik.”
21st verse: “When charity is practiced with the expectation of getting something back in return or done with a mind that is not happy as it is struggling with its own greed, ort done with a desire to be known as a charitable person – such charity is Rajasik.”
22nd verse: “Charity done at the wrong place, at the wrong time, or to unworthy person or without regard for rules and etiquette – such charity is Tamasik.”
Suppose a person is sitting in a dirty, filthy place and we give him restaurant food. It is an example of wrong place. Suppose that person has already had his meal and we give him food. It is an example of wrong time. Suppose we give money to a person who uses it for terrible things. It is an example of charity to an unworthy person.
The 23rd and 24th verses are very important and explain how we can purify our spiritual activities such as yajna, dana and tapah.
23rd verse: “In the Vedic literature, specifically the Upanishads, it is stated that “Om Tat Sat” constitutes the essence of all vedic literature. These three words are behind the origin and creation of the Brahmanas, Vedas and Yajnas.”
There are four vedas. Each veda has four parts – Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. Samhita contains hymns to deities. Brahmana contain description of rituals. Aranyaka contain philosophical discussions and spiritual disciplines. Upanishads contain the highest and most sublime portion of the vedas.
It is difficult for normal human beings to perform their spiritual practices with perfection. For example, a prayer is effective when the mind, the act of prayer, the thoughts and emotions are all focused on the prayer. It is difficult for normal human beings to do so – there is an inherent incompleteness and imperfection in their prayer. The same applies to rituals. The spiritual practice – a prayer or an offering or a ritual – can be purified by uttering “Om” or “Om Tat Sat.”
The utterance of “Om Tat Sat” can have two levels. The utterance has more effect when we understand its meaning. It has less effect if it is uttered without understanding its meaning.
Om is a word symbol that represents the totality of existence and divinity. Whatever we experience in waking state, dream state or deep sleep state – they are all represented by Om.
Om is comprised of A-U-M. “A” represents the totality of waking state experiences. “U” represents the totality of dream state experiences. “M” represents the totality of deep sleep experiences. Together, they represent all our experiences, as we cannot have any experience outside of these three states.
Om contains the essence of all vedas. All the vedas are an attempt to describe the Absolute Reality which can only be experienced. At the empirical level, the Absolute Reality is denoted with Om.
Om comes from two Sanskrit roots which mean “something that is all-pervading that sustains us, protects us from problems of the empirical world, and leads us to the highest spiritual realization.”
Sri Ramakrishna used simple language to describe Om. In ascending order, he said: “Puaranas are the lowest. Higher than Puranas are Upanishads. Upanishads are condensed in Gayatri. Gayatri is condensed in Om. Beyond Om is total silence.”
The highest level of experience cannot be explained. It is a deeply felt experience whose language is silence. Below silence is Om, which is the first audible, verbal symbol of the divine. When we elaborate Om, we get Gayatri. When we elaborate Gayatri, we get Upanishads. Below the Upanishads, there are many mythological books. All these books are meant to take us beyond books. The highest experience is beyond all these books.
Tat means “I am offering it to the all-pervading, divine reality.” It is used to purify all forms of yajna, dana and tapah. These spiritual practices may have inherent imperfections which are rectified by utterance of Tat.
When we offer our activity to the all-pervading reality that is present in everyone and everything, the activity is purified. In fact, this is the essence of the Brahma-Yajna-Mantra in the 24th verse of the 4th chapter. With the imagery of a Vedic ritual (Yajna), this verse says: “the process of offering, what we offer, the one who offers, into what it is offered, the act of performing the ritual, the goal to be reached – everything is Brahman.”
There is nothing in this world, but Brahman. With this strong conviction, when we utter this mantra before eating food, then whatever we eat becomes purified.
Sat means strong, steady faith. Yajna, dana and tapah, when done with a sense of sanctity, sacredness, sincerity, honesty and integrity – they get purified.
Sometimes devotees chant “Hari Om Tat Sat”. Hari is the name of Vishnu and means the Lord.