Shankara gives a twofold answer. Firstly, these features are inferred from what Brahman is not. It is not non-existent, so it is sat, existence par excellence, unchanging through all the kalas (periods of time); it is not devoid of consciousness, so it is chitta, pure consciousness, the nature of absolute knowledge; and, it is not of the nature of distress, so it is ananda, bliss supreme, the nature of absolute happiness.
