from whence all speech, together with the mind, turns away unable to
reach it,' hence must be taken as proclaiming with emphasis the infinite
nature of Brahman's auspicious qualities. Moreover, a clause in the
chapter under discussion--viz. 'he obtains all desires, together with
Brahman the all-wise' (II, 1)--which gives information as to the fruit
of the knowledge of Brahman clearly declares the infinite nature of the
qualities of the highest all-wise Brahman. The desires are the
auspicious qualities of Brahman which are the objects of desire; the man
who knows Brahman obtains, together with Brahman, all qualities of it.
The expression 'together with' is meant to bring out the primary
importance of the qualities; as also described in the so-called dahara-
vidya (Ch. Up. VIII, 1). And that fruit and meditation are of the same
character (i.e. that in meditations on Brahman its qualities are the
chief matter of meditation, just as these qualities are the principal
point in Brahman reached by the Devotee) is proved by the text
'According to what a man's thought is in this world, so will he be after
he has departed this life' (Ch. Up. III, 14, 1). If it be said that the
passage 'By whom it is not thought by him it is thought', 'not
understood by those who understand' (Ke. Up. II, 3), declares Brahman
not to be an object of knowledge; we deny this, because were it so,
certain other texts would not teach that final Release results from
knowledge; cp. 'He who knows Brahman obtains the Highest' (Taitt. Up. II,
1, 1); 'He knows Brahman, he becomes Brahman.' And, moreover, the text
'He who knows Brahman as non-existing becomes himself non-existing; he
who knows Brahman as existing, him we know himself as existing' (Taitt
Up. II, 6, 1), makes the existence and non-existence of the Self
dependent on the existence and non-existence of knowledge which has
Brahman for its object. We thus conclude that all scriptural texts
enjoin just the knowledge of Brahman for the sake of final Release. This
knowledge is, as we already know, of the nature of meditation, and what