'Satyasiva Sundaram'

The concept of God ( Sivam), in its true and practical sense, is not limited to just divinity or to a force that creates, sustains and destroys, but extends to goodness, clarity, precision, effectiveness and excellence that should mark one's life. These virtues follow when one realises and applies in actual life 'truths', which he has divined for himself through analysis, contemplation and introspection.

In short, realisation of truth ( satyam) is also realisationof God ( Sivam). This 'truth', as the Bible notes, would 'set you free' - free of the binding effects of the inevitable hazards of all mundane living. This state of freedom is also 'flow', where onewould issue forth all he does well and rightly ( karmasu koushalam) and, naturallyso, experience felicity and beauty ( Sundaram) all over.

This, verily, is the age-old Indian concept of Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram, one leading to, and intertwined with, the other. This also is an expression of the conceptof John Keats, 'Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty…"

When Thomson prayed, "Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme, teach me what is good, teach me Thyself," he implied that all that is good, right and gracious ( Satyam and Sundaram) are actually nothing but this 'Thyself' ( Sivam). This state of the realised mind ( satchit) is also that which leads to supreme joy ( anandam).

Thus, this joy is synonymous with beauty ( Sundaram). To quote John Keats again, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." And this beauty, not being just skin-deep, would also, indeed, transcend people, places and all time!