Chapter 13 Shloka 12

ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते।

अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते।।१२।।

I shall now tell you of That which

is worthy of being known and knowing which

(the aspirant) can attain immortality.

That Supreme Purusha, who is without beginning,

cannot be described as Sat, nor Asat.

Chapter 13 Shloka 12

ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते।

अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते।।१२।।

Now the Lord elucidates on the Unmanifest Essence of Brahm and says:

I shall now tell you of That which is worthy of being known and knowing which (the aspirant) can attain immortality. That Supreme Purusha, who is without beginning, cannot be described as Sat, nor Asat.

The Lord says that the only one worthy of being known is Brahm; however That One can neither be called sat – the eternal Truth, nor asat – that which is transient and therefore untrue. He is, but it is impossible to describe what He is.

1. He is indescribable.

2. He is unmanifest.

3. He is unparalleled.

4. He is extraordinary.

5. He is incomparable.

6. He is unlimited.

7. He is beyond thought.

8. He is beyond the senses.

9. He is incomprehensible.

How can one know such a One:

a) Who is formless and yet with a form?

b) Devoid of attributes, yet embellished with all attributes?

c) Who is devoid of sense faculties, yet who Himself constitutes all sense faculties?

d) That Master of time who transcends time, yet is bound by time whenever He manifests Himself in the mortal frame?

e) Who is indivisible unity Himself, yet divided when He manifests Himself in the world? Then whom shall one call Sat – the eternal Truth and who shall be defined as asat – the transient untruth? In actual fact, such a One transcends both these epithets.

f) Whose essence is silence yet Who Himself is every spoken word? Who can understand the silence of such a One?

Should one call His manifest form asat or untrue – or should one call His unmanifest form sat or true? He is manifest and unmanifest, yet can be called neither in totality.

Should one call Him sat when He is in complete identification with all? Or is He sat when He remains distant and silent?

In life, that manifested Brahm interacts in complete identification with all, in total unity with each one. The Lord Himself proclaims that He does not shatter the concepts of others and, in fact, the man of wisdom interacts with the ignorant as an ignorant being. Then shall such interaction be termed as asat?

It is this body that is in fact asat as also every action performed by the body. The Lord has just said, “Only the knowledge of Adhyatam can be categorised as true knowledge.” Therefore it is clear that only the knowledge of Adhyatam is sat; all other knowledge which may pertain to all the facets of the world is in fact asat.

Now consider this from another point of view. Knowledge is required only insofar as one is not established in the Truth or in one’s essential Being. Once one is unified with the Self, all knowledge, all qualities and attributes become superfluous. Little one, knowledge can only serve to erase ignorance; thereafter, it becomes redundant.

Thus knowledge and all attributes become meaningless for one who is established in the Atma. His own body and all his attributes then become categorised as asat. Every action performed henceforth by his body is proclaimed as sat from the point of view of the worldly mortal, but he himself transcends both sat and asat – he is the Atma. Only he is worthy of being known; one can attain the Supreme state simply by knowing him.

a) If an individual follows sat – the Truth, he will automatically stand distanced from the untrue – asat.

b) If an individual follows the knowledge he has imbibed, he will automatically be distanced from ignorance.

c) If an individual practises renunciation of the body idea, he can transcend the body idea.

The path of Sat – Truth

From the point of view of the individual:

1. The path of shreya which leads to Godhood is the path of sat or truth.

2. The northward path is the path of Truth.

3. The path leading to the shukla paksha or the period of light (the fortnight when the moon is waxing) is the path of Truth.

4. The path which engenders divine qualities is the path of Truth.

5. The path which leads to unity with the Atma is the path of Truth.

The Lord says that the Atma is without a beginning. The Essential Being of That Brahm transcends both sat and asat. The Atma is eternal, devoid of aberrations, indescribable and unparalleled.