When Bahva was questioned by Va@skali, he expounded
the nature of Brahman to him by maintaining silence--"Teach
me," said Va@skali, "most reverent sir, the nature of Brahman."
Bahva however remained silent. But when the question was put
forth a second or third time he answered, "I teach you indeed but
you do not understand; the Atman is silence [Footnote ref 3]." The way
to indicate it is thus by _neti neti_, it is not this, it is not this.
We cannot describe it by any positive content which is always limited
by conceptual thought.
The Atman doctrine.
The sum and substance of the Upani@sad teaching is involved
in the equation Atman=Brahman. We have already seen that the
word Atman was used in the @Rg-Veda to denote on the one hand
the ultimate essence of the universe, and on the other the vital
breath in man. Later on in the Upani@sads we see that the word
Brahman is generally used in the former sense, while the word
Atman is reserved to denote the inmost essence in man, and the
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[Footnote 1: B@rh.
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