Kena Upanishad 2.p4

2.p4

satyam, iṣṭā niścitā pratipattiḥ; na hi suvedāhamiti| yaddhi vedyaṃ vastu miṣayībhavati, tatsuṣṭhu

Prāṇena, by the organ of smell, produced from earth, existing in the nostrils, and associated with the activities of the internal organ and the vital force; yat, that which; man na prāṇiti does not smell, does not comprehend like smell; yena, that by which light of the Self; prāṇaḥ, the organ of smell—being illumined as an object; praṇīyate, is impelled—towards its own object. All the rest, tat eva etc., is just like what has gone before.

Answer: True, a firm conviction is desirable but not such a one as, "I know It well enough." That knowable thing alone that falls within the range of cognition can be known thoroughly, just as an inflammable substance becomes consumable to a fire that burns it, but not so the essence itself of the fire. The well-ascertained purport of all the Upaniṣads is that the personal Self of each knower is Brahman. Here, too, the same fact has been established in the form of an answer to questions, in the text beginning with, "That which is the Ear of the ear" etc. (I. 2); and the same has been specifically affirmed in the text, "That which is not uttered by speech" (I. 5). Besides, the positive conclusion of the (traditional) line of knowers of Brahman has been adduced in the text: "That is surely different from the known; and again, It is above the unknown" (I. 4). And the topic will be concluded thus: "It is unknown to those who know well, and known to those who do not know" (II. 3). Hence it is proper to dispel the disciple's notion: "I know well enough." For the knower cannot be known by the knower, just as fire cannot be consumed by the consuming fire; and there is no other knower different from Brahman to whom Brahman can become a separate knowable. A separate knower is denied by the Vedic text: "There is no other knower but this" (Bṛ. III. viii. 11). Therefore the conviction, "I know Brahman well enough", is certainly false. Hence the teacher has justifiably said, "If you think" etc.