the purport of the word
'then' to indicate order of succession; a purport which it serves in
other passages, as, for instance, in the one enjoining the cutting off
of pieces from the heart and other parts of the sacrificial animal.[53]
(For the intimation of order of succession could be intended only if the
agent in both cases were the same; but this is not the case), because
there is no proof for assuming the enquiry into religious duty and the
enquiry into Brahman to stand in the relation of principal and
subordinate matter or the relation of qualification (for a certain act)
on the part of the person qualified[54]; and because the result as well
as the object of the enquiry differs in the two cases. The knowledge of
active religious duty has for its fruit transitory felicity, and that
again depends on the performance of religious acts. The enquiry into
Brahman, on the other hand, has for its fruit eternal bliss, and does
not depend on the performance of any acts. Acts of religious duty do not
yet exist at the time when they are enquired into, but are something to
be accomplished (in the future); for they depend on the activity of man.
In the Brahma-mima/m/sa, on the other hand, the object of enquiry, i.e.
Brahman, is something already accomplished (existent),--for it is
eternal,--and does not depend on human energy. The two enquiries differ
moreover in so far as the operation of their respective fundamental
texts is concerned. For the fundamental texts on which active religious
duty depends convey information to man in so far only as they enjoin on
him their own particular subjects (sacrifices, &c.); while the
fundamental texts about Brahman merely instruct man, without laying on
him the injunction of being instructed, instruction being their
immediate result. The case is analogous to that of the information
regarding objects of sense which ensues as soon as the objects are
approximated to the senses. It therefore is requisite that something
should be stated subsequent to which the enquiry into Brahman is
proposed.--Well, then, we maintain that the antecedent conditions are
the discrimination of what is eternal and what is non-eternal; the
renunciation of all desire to enjoy the fruit (of one's actions) both
here and hereafter; the acquirement of tranquillity, self-restraint, and
the other means[55], and the desire of final release. If these
conditions exist, a man may, either before entering on an enquiry into
active