3. The scriptures (alone) being the means of right knowledge (with regard to Brahman, xhe proposition laid in Sutra 2 becomes corroborated).
This Sutra makes the idea expressed in the previous Sutra clearer. If any doubt has been left regarding the fact that Brahman as the origin, sustenance, and dissolution of the world is established by scriptural authority and not by inference independently of it, this Sutra makes it clear that the Srutis alone are proof regarding Brahman.
Objection: Brahman is an already existing thing like a pot, and so It can be known by other means of right knowledge independently of the scriptures.
Answer: Brahman has no form, colour, or empirical characteristics, and so cannot be cognized by direct perception. It is not an object available to the senses.
Again, in the absence of inseparable characteristics, as smoke is of fire, It cannot be established by inference. Nor can It be known through analogy (Upamana), since there is nothing truly comparable to Brahman.
Therefore, It can be known only through the scriptures. The scriptures themselves declare: “One who is ignorant of the scriptures cannot know that Brahman.”
No doubt, as already referred to in the previous Sutra, these means of right knowledge also have a scope, but it is only after Brahman is established by the scriptures.
They serve as supplementary to revelation and not as independent sources. Their function is to support understanding, remove doubts, and unfold the meaning already disclosed by the Vedantic texts.