4. But that Brahman is to be known only from the scriptures and not independently by any other means is established because It is the main purport of all Vedanta texts.
Objection by Purva Mimamsakas: The Vedanta texts do not refer to Brahman. The Vedas cannot possibly aim at giving information regarding such self-established, already existing objects like Brahman, which can be known through other sources.
They generally give information only about objects that cannot be known through other means, and about the means to attain such objects. Again Brahman, being our own Self, can neither be desired nor shunned and as such cannot be an object of human effort.
Therefore, a mere statement of fact about Brahman would make the scriptures purposeless. Vedic passages must therefore be connected with action, ritual, deities, or spiritual practices in order to retain meaning.
Answer: The word but in the Sutra refutes all these objections. The Vedanta texts refer to Brahman only, for all of them have Brahman as their main topic.
The main purport of a treatise is known through six signs: beginning and conclusion, repetition, uniqueness, fruit, praise, and reasoning.
In the sixth chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, for example, all six point unmistakably toward Brahman. It begins with the Real alone existing in the beginning, repeats the great declaration “Thou art That,” and concludes with the Self as the truth of all existence.
The uniqueness of Brahman is evident because It cannot be known through perception or inference. Reasoning is also used by scripture, as in the example of clay and all objects made from clay, to show how multiplicity emerges from one essence.
The result is also clearly stated: by knowing Brahman, everything else is known. Thus all six characteristics prove that Brahman is the main topic of Vedanta.
These texts cannot be reduced to ritual or agency, for they belong to an entirely different section from the Karmakanda. Nor are they useless, because their comprehension leads to Liberation.
Just as the statement that it is a rope and not a snake removes illusion, so the Vedantic texts remove ignorance regarding the Self. Yet mere intellectual understanding is not enough; actual realization alone is meant.
The knowledge of Brahman is not an action, nor the result of action. Brahman is already existing, eternal, pure, and the innermost Self. Liberation therefore cannot be something created, modified, purified, or newly attained.
Texts that seem imperative, such as hearing, reflection, and meditation, do not truly lay down ritual injunctions. Their purpose is only to turn the aspirant away from external objects and inward toward direct realization.
Thus Brahman is in no way connected with action. All the Vedanta texts deal with an independent topic, which is Brahman, and these texts alone are the proof of Brahman, as It cannot be known through any other source.