m who is desirous of
immortality.--But--somebody might object--it has been declared that
there is a difference in the character of the objects enquired into, the
object of enquiry in the karma-ka/nd/a (that part of the Veda which
treats of active religious duty) being something to be accomplished,
viz. duty, while here the object is the already existent absolutely
accomplished Brahman. From this it follows that the fruit of the
knowledge of Brahman must be of a different nature from the fruit of the
knowledge of duty which depends on the performance of actions[70].--We
reply that it must not be such because the Vedanta-texts give
information about Brahman only in so far as it is connected with
injunctions of actions. We meet with injunctions of the following kind,
'Verily the Self is to be seen' (B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 5); 'The Self which
is free from sin that it is which we must search out, that it is which
we must try to understand' (Ch. Up. VIII, 7, 1); 'Let a man worship him
as Self' (B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 7); 'Let a man worship the Self only as his
true state' (B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 15); 'He who knows Brahman becomes
Brahman' (Mu. Up. III, 2, 9). These injunctions rouse in us the desire
to know what that Brahman is. It, therefore, is the task of the
Vedanta-texts to set forth Brahman's nature, and they perform that task
by teaching us that Brahman is eternal, all-knowing, absolutely
self-sufficient, ever pure, intelligent and free, pure knowledge,
absolute bliss. From the devout meditation on this Brahman there results
as its fruit, final release, which, although not to be discerned in the
ordinary way, is discerned by means of the /s/astra. If, on the other
hand, the Vedanta-texts were considered to have no reference to
injunctions of actions, but to contain statements about mere
(accomplished) things, just as if one were saying 'the earth comprises
seven dvipas,' 'that king is marching on,' they would be purportless,
because then they could not possibly be connected with something to be
shunned or endeavoured after.--Perhaps it will here be objected that
sometimes a mere statement about existent things has a purpose, as, for
instance, the affirmation, 'This is a rope, not a snake,' serves the
purpose of removing the fear engendered by an erroneous opinion, and
that so likewise the Vedanta-passages making statements about the
non-transmigrating Self, have a purport of their own (without reference
to any action), viz. in so far as