Being-Consciousness-Bliss (Sat-Cit-Ānanda)
Three words for the one reality: it simply is, it knows, and it is bliss.
Sat-cit-ānanda — 'being, consciousness, bliss' — is the classic threefold way of pointing to the nature of the absolute. It says that ultimate reality is not a dead thing but is existence itself, awareness itself, and fullness or joy itself. In Advaita these are not three separate attributes but one indivisible nature described from three sides.
How it traveled
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka UpaniṣadMithilā (kingdom of Videha) · -700explains
- UpadeśasāhasrīKālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710explains
- VivekacūḍāmaṇiŚṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · 1400explains
Key passages(20)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)