Sat-Chit-Ananda are NOT qualities of Brahman / Atman rather it is what Brahman “IS” and NOT what Brahman “HAS”. Brahman does not “have” any qualities (Guna) and hence it is Nirguna.
Great Advaita Master Vidyaranya, in his magnum opus “Pancha Dashi” provides a lucid explanation.
Answer the following three simple questions.
- Do you Exist? The answer is Yes. Hence Sat (Existence) is ticked.
- Are you Conscious? The answer is Yes. Hence Chit (Consciousness) is ticked.
- Before posing the third question we need to understand a simple fact that we like to “keep” what brings us joy and we do NOT like to keep which we do not enjoy.
Now coming to the question.
Do you like to destroy yourself? The answer is No. That means we like to “keep” ourselves which means we ourselves are the source of joy for us. Hence Ananda (Bliss) is ticked.
Thus all of us are Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, Satchitananda Swarupa.
That’s why Shankaracharya told “Jivo Brahmaiva Naparah” meaning “a living being is none other than Brahman”. The same thing is conveyed by the Maha Vakya (Great Sentence), “Ayam Atma Brahma” of Mandukya Upanishad (1.2) of Atharva Veda. It literally translates to “This Atman (Self) is Brahman”.
From the above explanation it should be clear that Sat-Chit-Ananda are not the qualities we possess, instead that is what we actually “ARE”.
Trying to exist consciously as pure (thoughts make us impure) Sat-Chit-Ananda or Sachidananda Swarupa is the ultimate goal of Advaita Vedanta and it is called Enlightenment or Self-Realisation.
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