Sat

Introduction

The semantics of the word sat indicates several connotative associations: Brahman “the supreme being”; reality; unchangeable; that which is undistorted; absolute truth; and something that is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person [1]. The morpheme sat is also prefixed with many roots, implying that which is essential, universal principle, being, true, real, universal spirit, good, virtuous, eternal, enduring, existing, lasting, and essential. Morphologically, the root of the word is present participle, i.e., “to be” and it cognates with English “is.” In the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, a verse expresses the concept beautifully, Asato ma sad gamaya meaning “lead me from delusion to truth.” The declension of the morpheme “sat” as a prefix results in sattva “truthful and pure” and sad “good,” and as a suffix it implies temporality; for example, panka-sat “50 years.” The antonym of this word is asat, where prefix “a” is a negative marker, and generates opposite meanings,...