These are three distinct words, signifying qualities,
seeking to mark out the One from the rest, the One Brahman from other types of Brahman that don’t have these
traits.
That is to say, Brahman is not to be confused with anything that is not truth, spiritual wisdom, and eternal.
Everything that is limited by time, space, and objectivity is inert (jada) material and apparently different from
Brahman.
The characteristics of truth, spiritual wisdom, and eternity help to differentiate and distinguish the real
Brahman from kindred and similar phenomena.
Whichever form a thing is determined to have, if that form is
unchanged, then it is referred to as truth. If that form undergoes change, then it is falsehood. Modi cation is the
sign of untruth; absence of modi cation is the sign of truth.
Brahman is truth (sathya), that is to say, It has no modi cations. It is eternal (nithya), unaffected by time.
All that is not Brahman —that is, the world (jagath)— is subject to change.
All objects are subject to the triple
process of the intellect (buddhi): known, the knower, and knowledge. Hence, the intellect is spoken of as a cave
(guha) where the three-fold process resides.
Listening, rumination, and concentration are the three steps in realisation.
Listening refers to the Vedas,
which have to be revered in faith and learned by heart from a spiritual teacher (guru); this confers the knowledge
of the Unknowable.
Rumination (manana) is the austerity (tapas) taught in the chapter on Bhrigu. By this process,
the essence of Brahman can be fixed in the mind. Concentration helps the development of single-minded attention on the principle so installed.
