Saccidānanda

Saccidānanda or sat-cit-ānanda (Skt., ‘being’, + ‘consciousness’ + ‘bliss’). In Vedānta, a three-fold characterization of Brahman, the Absolute, as that which is pure being, consciousness, and bliss. Sat-cit-ānanda characterizes the essence of brahman as it is grasped in human experience (anubhava). Sat, ‘being’ or ‘truth’, emphasizes the unchanging nature of Brahman as pure unqualified existence with ontological priority over all other experience. Cit, ‘consciousness’, emphasizes the conscious nature of Brahman experience: Brahman is the epistemological ultimate, the self-luminous essence of knowing which is the witness of all other experience. Ānanda, ‘bliss’, emphasizes the sublime value of the experience of Brahman. Brahman is the axiological ultimate, the highest and most fulfilling human experience, the goal of human experience. However, sat, cit, and ānanda are not to be understood as qualities attributed to brahman which is nirguṇa, beyond all relative qualification. Rather sat, cit, and ānanda are each the very essence of Brahman known through the experience of ecstasy.