Chapter 17, Verse 23

ॐ तत्सदिति निर्देशो ब्रह्मणस्त्रिविध: स्मृत: | ब्राह्मणास्तेन वेदाश्च यज्ञाश्च विहिता: पुरा ॥23॥

Transliteration

oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśho brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛitaḥ brāhmaṇās tena vedāśh cha yajñāśh cha vihitāḥ purā

Word Meanings

om tat sat—syllables representing aspects of transcendence; iti—thus; nirdeśhaḥ—symbolic representatives; brahmaṇaḥ—the Supreme Absolute Truth; tri-vidhaḥ—of three kinds; smṛitaḥ—have been declared; brāhmaṇāḥ—the priests; tena—from them; vedāḥ—scriptures; cha—and; yajñāḥ—sacrifice; cha—and; vihitāḥ—came about; purā—from the beginning of creation

Translation

‘Om-tat-sat’ [‘Om, That, Existence’: ‘Om iti brahma, Om is Brahman’; ‘Tattvamasi, Thou art That’; and ‘Sadeva somya idamagra asit, This was Existence alone in the beginning, O amiable one’-in these texts Brahman is indicated by the words Om, tat, sat.]-this is considered to be the threefold designation of Brahman. The Brahmanas and Vedas and the sacrifices were ordained by that in the days of yore.