The great Vedantic triad — sat-cid-ānanda (existence, consciousness, bliss) — is invoked as the defining characteristic (lakṣaṇa) of the Ātman. These are not three separate qualities but three inseparable aspects of one reality: existence that is conscious, consciousness that is blissful, bliss that exists. The sage who knows this is free from all fear and all desire, because fear and desire both presuppose the absence of what is sought — and in sat-cid-ānanda, nothing is absent.