Prayer Heart to Heart Communication – Om Tat Sat Sri Narayana Tu

Satya Sai Baba

Prayer Heart to Heart Communication

Om Tat Sat Sri Narayana Tu
Purushottama Guru Tu
Siddha Buddha Tu
Skanda Vinayaka Tu
Savita Pavak Tu
Brahma Maazda Tu
Yahava Shakti Tu
Yesu Pita Prabhu Tu
Rudra Vishnu Tu
Ram Krishna Tu
Rahim Tao Tu
Vaasudeva Tu Vishwarupa Tu
Chidananda Hari Tu
Advitya Tu Akaala Nirbhaya
Atma Linga Shiva Tu
Sai Atma Linga Shiva Tu
Sai Atma Linga Shiva Tu
Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti

This prayer is sung before Bhagawan Sathya Sai Baba’s Aarti in Sai-rituals. It glorifies God, called by different names in the world religions, who prominently manifests in gods, prophets, avatars and saints.

‘Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudaa Vadanti’

Truth is one, described variously by scholars. This is how god, another name for Truth, has been explained in an ancient Hindu Scripture.

In this prayer, it appears as though the devotee identified with the Supreme Consciousness (again a name for God!) exultantly discovers God hiding behind many names, forms and personages, in fact, Creation itself.

Om is the sound symbol of God; ‘tat’ means ‘that’; ‘Sat’ means ‘truth’. “Truth” does not merely refer to only mean factuality as commonly perceived, but the everlasting and unchanging. While carrying a dead body for cremation, we chant: ‘Ram Nam Satya hai; Hari Nam Satya Hai’. The physical body is perishable and God alone is unchanging and everlasting.

So, Om Tat Sat means what is everlasting and unchanging is God, whose infinite Existence – Consciousness Bliss is denoted by Om.

The devotee begins by saying “Oh! God! You are the One indicated by the sacred sound Om!”

Whereas Om essentially suggests a formless and nameless God, the name Sri Narayana refers to the most auspicious and, relishable characteristics of God. Here, God has a glorious masculine form and a consort to Sri or Lakshmi, the personification of Love, Mercy and all that is good and joyous. The devotee points out, you are (the word tu means ‘you’ in Hindi) the one who has assumed the primal feminine and masculine forms of Sri and Narayana.

Purushottama means the best person and the supreme ruler, the ultimate cause of this universe and life.

Guru is one who removes the darkness of Maya (Ignorance), thus helping us realise our essential Self.

Indeed Guru is God come in human form to help self-realisation.

Thus the devotee praises god as ‘Purushottama Guru’, and also as the following:

Siddha means one who has been victorious by winning the knowledge of the Self; it refers to Self-realised saints. The knowers of Brahman (another name for God) are verily Brahman.

Buddha refers to Gautama Buddha. The word means one with perfect consciousness and wisdom.

Skandha the commander of divine forces, is also known as Subrahmanya, Muruga, etc. He was born through the six spiritual eyes of Lord Shiva.

Vinayaka is the elephant-faced form of God, who was manifested by goddess Parvati, the consort of Shiva. He represents the power of discrimination and has to be worshipped to win over the various obstacles in life.

Savita means the sun while Paavaka fire or heat. Brahma is the form God assumes when he undertakes Creation (Brahman is the name of God which signifies that He is the greatest and so includes in Him).

Maazda is the name for God in Zorastrianism. Ahura Maazda, the all-good and all-auspicious.

Yahava refers to Yehovah, the name Jews have given to God. It means “I am” implying that the Self that is behind all selves is God.

Shakthi is the Primal energy, personified as the goddess Aadi Parashakthi.

Yesu refers to Jesus and the word means Saviour. Pitha Prabhu refers to the Father aspect of God. Or Yesu Pitha Prabhu, taken as a single name, can mean the Holy father of Jesus.

Rudra is the aspect of Lord Shiva engaged in the destruction of evil of sorrow, and ignorance. He brings tears to the evil ones and tears of joy to the good ones.

Vishnu refers to the protective or sustaining function of God. The root meaning, however, is : one who is all-pervasive but hidden, i.e, the immanent aspect of God.

Rama and Krishna are the well known Avatars of God. The words mean respectively, one who gives happiness under all circumstances and one who is attractive and who ploughs the field of the mind for the growth of spiritual wisdom.

Rahim is the name of God used by Muslims; it means the one who is incomparably merciful.

Tao is the name of God used by Lao Tse, the Chinese philosopher. It means ‘the way’ which implies the eternally Right Way of living.

Vaasudeva can mean the son of Vasudeva i.e., Krishna. Krishna however, being already referred to the root meaning of the word (incidently one of ‘the thousand names of God’) is relevant here: ‘one who has created the universe and occupies it immanently’.

Vishvarupa means ‘in the form of observed universe’. According to Vaishnavism the universe is the body of God.

Chidananda Hari means ‘one who is omniscient and ever blissful’. He removes ignorance and sorrow, fulling the heart with Love.

Advitiya means ‘without a second’. Saying God is ‘Without a second’ a more direct way of asserting that God is one’, because ‘one’ inevitably brings the association of a second.

Akaala means timeless. God is beyond time.

Nirbhaya means fearless. Of whom shall God be afraid of ?! Only God exists.

Atma Linga refers to Hiranyagarbha — the golden ovoid — symbolising the first manifestation of the formless Atma, which can be taken both as the individual and Universal Self. Unless the devotee perceives himself as Atma Linga, denoting the harmonization of the masculine and feminine aspects of God, he cannot experience Divinity.

Shiva is third of the Trinity manifestation of supreme Consciousness, responsible for dissolution of Creation. Shiva Protects the devotee by destroying his evil qualities. Shiva can also refer to the Supreme consciousness Itself out of It and dances around Shiva — the dances symbolising Creation.

The devotee ends the Prayer with Salutations to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, describing Him as the Atma Linga and Shiva. a

O. P. Vidyakar (Reference)

Also see:

– Om Tat Sat Sri Narayana Tu YouTube Video