Satnam may be the main word that appears within the Sikh sacred scripture known as the Guru Granth Sahib. It is part of the Gurbani shabad called Mool Mantra that is repeated daily by just about all Sikhs. This word succeeds the word “Ek-onkar” which means “There is just one constant” or commonly “There is one God”. The words sat indicates “true” and nam indicates “name”. In this instance, this would mean, “whose name is truth”.
The word nam within Sikhism has two connotations. “It meant both an application and a symbol from the All-pervading Supreme Reality that sustained the universe. Guru Nanak in his teachings emphasized the need of repeating Sat-Nam to understand the All-pervading Supreme Actuality. ”
Sat
In Sanskrit there are two words which have this root: Sat which means “beingness”, existence and Satya meaning truth, validity. There is a great difference between your two. Satya is the quest of the philosopher who seeks truth. What is this reality? It lies in the guidelines whereby two plus two always equals four, and never five or three.
So Satya is the mathematical formula, a man-made calculation, but it is not Sat. It is logical truth but not existential reality. Sat is that that just is, always was, eternal. God is both Sat and Satya, existence as well because truth. Being both He can neither be fully achieved through science, which probes truth, nor through arts, which explores existence.
Both are incomplete in their search, because they are directed only towards half of Him. Where both meet, where the mind as well as heart meet, religion begins. If the mind overpowers one’s heart, science is born. If the heart overpowers the mind, the realm of artwork is entered: poetry, music, song, sculpture. Science and Art are dualities, religion is the functionality.
God is the only, stable origin of creation. He creates, and He constantly touches up His masterpiece creation, like an artist that caringly touches up his work. The universe will eternally follow the plan of His “hukam” all the natural laws of the universe. Creation is the outcomes of God’s hukam which in no way ceases. All things in the universe are constantly being recycled or changing within molecular structure.
Naam
Naam literally means, the Name(singular). A fuller definition of the word can only be found within the Guru Granth Sahib by itself. Naam is God’s Word, or the Divine Essence. Etymologically, the word has a striking resemblance using the Greek neumena or the Bright Essence instead of phenomena. Naam is not basically the ‘Name of God’ as is commonly believed; it symbolizes the Becoming of God filling just about all Creation. Naam is also known as Shabad in the SGGS.
Where there was no creation, there was nothing around – no air, light, water, earth or space. God existed alone within deep meditation and self absorption. When God willed for that manifestations of his ideals, He created universes, worlds and all material along with other living beings by uttering a single Word.
His Word is all pervasive and also the sole source of all Creation; the Word created the universes and supports and sustains all things within them. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib additional enlightens us that God’s Word turned into waves of light, rays of which are present in all creatures and other parts of His creation. This is consistent with a fundamental principle of physics which sound vibrations, when increased several collapse, change into waves associated with light.
This Essence / Naam or Shabad / Logus is formless, colorless, and featureless but, as said, is present in all creation. There is no grow, no creature, in what it is not. The Earth and additional heavenly bodies exist because there is Naam in this universe so when God withdraws this Naam from this Universe, there are natural calamities (Parloh / Mahaparloh) all over the universe and it is now time that the universe perishes and all of the living creatures perish.