18. Sat and Asat

 

Krishna says ‘sat’ (real or permanence) never ceases to be and ‘asat’ (unreal or impermanence) has no existence. A jnani is the one who can distinguish between the two (2.16).

The rope and snake analogy is often quoted in many cultures to understand the intricacies of ‘sat’ and ‘asat’. A man returned home at dusk and found a coiled snake at the entrance to his home. But in reality, it was a rope left by children that looked like a snake in the semi-darkness. While the rope signifies ‘sat’, the snake signifies ‘asat’. Until he realises ‘sat’ i.e. the rope, he is likely to adopt many strategies to handle ‘asat’ i.e. the illusory snake. He could attack it with a stick (fight), run away (flight) or he may try to light a torch to check out the reality. The best strategies and skills would go in vain if our perceptions were that of ‘asat’.

Another example is a reflection in a mirror. When we stand before a mirror, our image appears in it. The reflection cannot exist independently of us. We are ‘sat’, the underlying reality, while the reflected image is ‘asat’, having no existence of its own.

‘Asat’ always derives its existence from ‘sat’, just as the snake doesn’t exist without the rope. Because ‘asat’ derives its existence from ‘sat’, it can influence us much like a nightmare- causing real physical reactions, such as sweating, even while we sleep.

A litmus test given by Krishna to identify ‘asat’ is that ‘which didn’t exist in the past and wouldn’t be there in the future’. If we take the example of sensual pleasure, it wasn’t there before and wouldn’t be there after some time. The same is the case with pain and for that matter all polarities. The indication is that ‘asat’ exists in time whereas ‘sat’ is eternal.

The eternal inner self is ‘sat’ and ahankaar is ‘asat’ which sustains itself with the support of the inner self. The day we discover our inner self (rope), the ahankaar (snake) automatically disappears.

From a Sankhya Yoga point of view, Krishna says that a jnani is one who can distinguish between sat and asat (2.16). He further says that He is both sat and asat (9.19), which is the state of a bhakt (devotee) in Bhakti Yoga.