The Bhagavad Gita · 2 of 2 · tr. Kashinath Trimbak Telang
Chapter XVII, Section 1b
That gift is said (to be) good, which is given, because it ought to be given, to one who (can) do no service (in return), at a (proper) place and time, an d to a (proper) person.
But that gift which is given with much difficulty, for a return of services, or even with an expectation of fruit , is said to be passionate.
And that gift, is described as dark, which is given to unfit persons, at an unfit place and time, without respect, and with contempt.
Om, Tad, and Sat, this is said (to be) the threefold designation of the Brahman.
By that , the Brâhma n as and the Vedas and sacrifices were created in olden times.
Hence, the performance by those who study the Brahman, of sacrifices, gifts, and penances, prescribed by the ordinances (of scripture), always commence after saying 'Om .' Those who desire final emancipation perform the various acts of sacrifice and penance, and the various acts of gift, without expectation of fruit, after (saying) 'Tad .' 'Sat' is employed to express existence and goodness; and likewise, O son of P ri thâ!
the word 'Sat' is used to express an auspicious act.
Constancy in (making) sacrifices.
penances, and gifts, is called 'Sat;' and (all) action, too, of which that is the object, is also called 'Sat.' Whatever oblation is offered, whatever is given, whatever penance is performed, and whatever is done, without faith , that, O son of P ri thâ!
is called 'Asat,' and that is nought, both after death and here .
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The passage explicitly contrasts 'good' gifts given without expectation of return against 'passionate' gifts made for fruit or service, emphasizing the necessity of acting without attachment to results.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
The passage describes actions performed without faith as 'Asat' (non-being) and states they are 'nought,' framing spiritual failure as a lack of true existence rather than a positive force.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
The text asserts that uttering 'Om', 'Tad', and 'Sat' is a necessary prerequisite for the efficacy of sacrifices, gifts, and penances, attributing causal power to these spoken words.