The System of the Vedanta according to Badarayana's Brahma-Sutras and Cankara's Commentary c6.s8.t3.10

c6.s8.t3.10

But what are the positive characteristics of this esoteric Brahman which presupposes the negation of all differences? The later Vedānta names three of them, which form the famous name of Brahman: Sac-cid-ānanda, that is “Existence, Intelligence, and Bliss;” this compound which, as far as I know, occurs first in the Nṛisiṁha-tāpanīya-upaniṣad (Ind. St. IX, 60. 84. 143. 147. 148. 154) is nowhere found in Ṣaṅkara’s Commentary, and appears to be as yet unknown to our author. It is true that he repeatedly explains that, where Brahman is spoken of as Bliss, this limitation refers to the esoteric, attributeless Brahman (p. 127, 16. 868, 11), but here, in the strictly esoteric part, this is not spoken of, perhaps, because Ṣaṅkara counts it among the negative limitations as freedom from suffering; thus besides Existence, as the only positive quality of the esoteric Brahman, remains intelligence; p. 808, 2: “The scripture explains, that the undifferentiated Brahman is “pure intelligence and free from all that is different from it, “for it says (Bṛih. 4, 5, 13): ‘as a block of salt has no [dis- “tinguishable] inside nor outside, but through and through “consists only of salt taste, so also this Ātman has no [dis- “tinguishable] inside and outside but consists throughout “altogether of intelligence.’ That is: this Ātman is through- “out nothing but intelligence; intelligence is its exclusive “(nirantara) nature, as the salt taste is, of the lump of salt.”