According to Hinduism, especially Vedanta, Brahman, which is of the nature of existence, knowledge and bliss, is the ultimate reality or Truth. It has been described in various ways such as, all pervading consciousness, one without the second, that which cannot be expressed in words, that which is beyond the reach of the senses, that which is birthless, deathless, boundless and so on and so forth. It can be seen that none of the descriptions of Brahman give a complete and comprehensive picture, there being some limitation or other. Sri Ramakrishna used to explain this beautifully through a story.
There was a salt-doll. It happened to be on a seashore. It was overwhelmed by the vastness and immensity of the sea. But, suddenly it was possessed by an idea that it should go and measure the depth of the ocean. It wanted to tell others how deep the ocean was. But, neither could it complete its task nor could it convey the result of its expedition. That was because no sooner did it get into the water than it melted completely. Now who was there to report the ocean’s depth?
Through the above story Sri Ramakrishna tried to convey the limitations of the senses to comprehend the ultimate Truth which is beyond the senses. The entire experience of humanity can be classified under the heading perception or experience through the senses. But, Brahman or the ultimate reality belongs to the realm of the super sensuous. Hence, it is not possible to comprehend the super sensuous through any sense experience and as such it is not possible to truly describe Brahman. In super sensuous experience called Samadhi one attains the knowledge of Brahman or one truly realizes Brahman. In that state reasoning stops altogether and man becomes mute. He is overwhelmed by the experience of the immeasurable. He has no power to describe the nature of Brahman.