(2) Gargya said: cThe sound here which follows after one as he goes — him, indeed, I worship as Brahma ' ' Ajatas'atru said: 'Talk not to me about him! I worship him, verily, as Life (asu). To him who worships him as such there comes a full length of life (dyu) in this world. Breath (prdna) leaves him not before the time.'

(6) Then he takes a sip, saying: — 'On this desired [glory] of Savitri — 'Tis sweetness, winds for pious man — "Tis sweetness, too, the streams pour forth. Sweet-filled for us let be the herbs' To Earth (b/iur), hail! [On this desired] glory of the god let us meditate. Sweet be the night and morning glows! Sweet be the atmosphere of earth ' And sweet th' Heaven-father (dyaus pita) be to us! To Atmosphere (bhuvas), hail! And may he himself inspire our thoughts' 6 The tree be full of sweet for us! And let the sun be full of sweet! Sweet-filled the cows become for us 1 7 To the Sky (svar\ hail! ' He repeats all the Savitri Hymn and all the « Sweet-verses/ and says: 'May I indeed become this world -all! O Earth (bhnr) and Atmosphere (bhuvas) and Sky (svar) \ Hail!' Finally, having taken a sip, having washed his hands, he lies down behind the fire, head eastward. In the morning he worships the sun, and says: c Of the quarters of heaven thou art the one lotus-flower! s May I of men become the one lotus-flower! ' s bear some lesemblance to the phrase which involves a play on words m the corresponding passage in Chand. 5. 2. 6, amo ndmd 'si ama hi te sarvam zdam, c Thou art He (ama) by name, for this whole world is at home (ama) m thee.' 8 A symbolic expression for ' pre-eminent.' Then he goes back the same way that he came, and, seated behind the fire, mutters the Line of Tradition (vamsa)* 7- This, indeed, did Uddalaka Arurn tell to his pupil Vaja- saneya Yajnavalkya, and say: « Even if one should pour this on a dry stump, branches would be produced and leaves would spring forth.

(13) 'Thou knowest, O Death, the fire-sacrifice which leads us to heaven; tell it to me, for I am full of faith. Those who live in the heaven-world reach immortality,--this I ask as my second boon.'

(1) 'When the Father produced by intellect and austerity seven kinds of food' — truly by intellect and austerity the Father did produce them. ' One of his [foods] was common to all.' That of his which is common to all is the food that is eaten here. He who worships that, is not turned from evil, for it is mixed [i.e. common, not selected]. 'Of two he let the gods partake/ They arc the tmta (fire-sacrifice) and thtfra/mta (offering). For this reason one sacrifices and offers to the gods. People also say that these two are the new-moon and the full-moon sacrifices. Therefore one should not offer sacrifice [merely] to secure a wish first both men and animals live upon milk. Therefore they either make a new-bom babe lick butter or put it to the breast. Likewise they call a new-born calf 'one that does not eat grass ' what does not ' — for upon milk everything depends, both what breathes and what does not. This that people say, cBy offering with milk for a year one escapes the second death ' — one should know that this is not so, since on the very day that he makes the offering he who knows escapes the second death, for he offers all his food to the gods. eaten all the time?' Verily, the Person is imperishableness, for he produces this food again and again. ' He who knows this imperishableness ' — verily, a person is imperishableness, for by continuous meditation he produces this food as his work. Should he not do this, all the food would perish. ( He eats food with his mouth (pratlkd)' The prattka is the mouth. So he eats food with his mouth.

(3) ' Yajnavalkya/ said he, ' since everything here is overtaken by death, since everything is overcome by death, whereby is - a sacrificer liberated beyond the reach of death? ' 'By the Hotri-priest, by fire, by speech. Verily, speech is the Hotri of sacrifice. That which is this speech is this fire, is the Hotri. This is release (mukti), this is complete release/ 4- ' Yajnavalkya, said he, c since everything here is overtaken by day and night, since everything is overcome by day and night, whereby is a sacrificer liberated beyond day and night? ' By the Adhvaryu-priest, by the eye, by the sun. Verily, the eye is the Adhvaryu of sacrifice. That which is this eye is yonder sun, is the Adhvaryu. This is release, this is complete release/

(2) Gargya said: 'The Person who is here in the quarters of heaven — him, indeed, I worship as Brahma! ' Ajatas'atru said: 'Talk not to me about him' I worship him, verily, as the Inseparable Companion. He who worships him as such has a companion. His company is not separated from him.' ia. Gargya said. ' The Person here who consists of shadow — him, indeed, I worship as Brahma! ' Ajatasatru said: 'Talk not to me about him! I worship him, verily, as Death. To him who worships him as such there comes a full length of life in this world. Death docs not come to him before the time.'

(4) f Let us hear what anybody may have told you/ [con- tinued Yajfiavalkya]. ' Udanka Saulbayana told me: "Brahma, verily, is the breath of life (prana)" ' As a man might say that he had a mother, that he had a father, that he had a teacher, so did that Saulbayana say, f< Brahma is the breath of life." For he might have thought, " What can one have who is without the breath of life? " But did he tell you Its seat and support? ' I He did not tell me. c Forsooth, your Majesty, that is a one-legged [Brahma].' c Verily, Yajfiavalkya, do you here tell us. should worship It as the dear (przya).' £The breath of life itself, your Majesty/ said he. c Verily, out of love for the breath of life, your Majesty, one has sacrifice offered for him for whom one should not offer sacrifice, one accepts from him from whom one should not accept. Out of love of just the breath of life, your Majesty, there arises fear of being killed wherever one goes. The highest Brahma, your Majesty, is in truth the breath of life. The breath of life leaves not him who, knowing this, worships it as such. All things run unto him. He, having become a god, goes even to the gods/ I 1 will give you a thousand cows with a bull as large as an elephant/ said Janaka, [king] of Videha. Yajnavalkya replied: c My father thought that without having instructed one should not accept/

(3) ' Yajnavalkya/ said he, * since everything here is food for death, who, pray, is that divinity for whom death is food? ' £ Death, verily, is a fire. It is the food of water (apas}. He overcomes (apa-jayati) a second death [who knows this].' 3

(1) Now next, the Transmission. — When a man thinks he is about to depart, he says to his son: ' Thou art holy knowledge. Thou art sacrifice. Thou art the world.' The son replies: ' I am holy knowledge. I am sacrifice. I am the world/ Verily, whatever has been learned [from the Vedas], the sum of all this is expressed by the word c knowledge ' (brahma}. Verily, whatever sacrifices have been made, the sum of them all is expressed by the word hended under the word ' world. So great, verily, is this all. occurs at Kaush. 2. 15. [the father considers]. Therefore they call 'world-procuring' a son who has been instructed. Therefore they instruct him. When one who has this knowledge departs from this world, he enters into his son with these vital breaths [i.e. faculties: Speech, Mind, and Breath]. Whatever wrong has been done by him, his son frees him from it all.. Therefore he is called a son (putra)? By his son a father stands firm in this world. Then into him [who has made over to his son his mortal breaths] enter those divine immortal breaths. 1 8. From the earth and from the fire the divine Speech enters him. Verily, that is the divine Speech whereby what- ever one says comes to be.

(2) It is — as, from a fire laid with damp fuel, clouds of smoke separately issue forth, so, lo, verily, from this great Being (bkutd) has been breathed foith that which is Rig- Veda, Yajur- Veda, Sama-Veda, [Hymns] of the Atharvans and Angirascs, Legend (itihasa), Ancient Lore (pitrand)> Sciences (vidya), Mystic Doctrines (^m^rf), Verses (sloka), Aphorisms (sutra), desert '; so also in all the following similar sentences. Cf. Bnh. 4. 5. 7. 2 A designation of the Atharva-Veda. Explanations (amivydkkydua)> and Commentaries (vyakhyana). From it, indeed, are all these breathed foith. ii. It is — as of all waters the uniting-point is the sea, so of all touches the uniting-point is the skin, so of all tastes the uniting-point is the tongue, so of all smells the uniting-point is the nostrils, so of all forms the uniting-point is the eye, so of all sounds the uniting-point is the ear, so of all intentions (samkalpa) the uniting-point is the mind (manas\ so of all knowledges the uniting-point is the heart, so of all acts (karma) the uniting-point is the hands, so of all pleasures (ananda) the uniting-point is the generative organ, so of all evacuations the uniting-point Is the anus, so of all journeys the uniting-point is the feet, so of all the Vedas the uniting-point is speech. 12,. It is — as a lump of salt cast in water would dissolve right- into the water; there would not be [any] 2 of it to seize forth, as it were (iva), but wherever one may take, it is salty indeed — so, lo, verily, this great Being (bhuta\ infinite, limitless, is just a mass of knowledge (vijnana-ghana). Arising out of these elements (bkuta), into them also one vanishes away. After death there is no consciousness (na pretya samjna *sti). Thus, lo, say I.' Thus spake Yajnavalkya.

(3) Verily, O Gargi, if one pei forms sacrifices and worship and undergoes austerity in this world for many thousands of years, but without knowing that Imperishable, limited indeed is that [work] of his. Verily, 0 Gargi, he who departs from this world without knowing that Imperishable is pitiable But, O Gargi, he who departs from this world knowing that Imperishable is a Brahman.

(1) Now next, the praying of the puiificatory formulas (pavamana). — The Prastotri priest (Praiser), verily, begins to praise with the Chant (sdman). When he begins to praise, then let [the sacrlficer] mutter the following: — ' From the unreal (asaf) lead me to the real (sat) I From darkness lead me to light! From death lead me to immortality ' ' When he says ' From the unreal lead me to the real/ the unreal, verily, is death, the real is immortality. * From death lead me to immortality. Make me immortal ' — that is what he says. death, the light is immortality. ' From death lead me to im- mortality. Make me immortal ' — that is what he says. ' From death lead me to immortality '—there is nothing there that seems obscure. Now whatever other verses there are of a hymn of praise (stotra), in them one may win food for himself by singing. And, therefore, in them he should choose a boon, whatever desire he may desire. That Udgatri priest who knows this — whatever desire he desires, either for himself or for the sacri- ficer, that he obtains by singing. This, indeed, is world-con- quering. There is no prospect of his being without a world who knows thus this Saman.

(1) He desired: ' Would that this [body] of mine were fit for sacrifice! Would that by it I had a self (atmanmn)! J Thereupon it became a horse (asva), because it swelled (a£vat). ' It has become fit for sacrifice (medhya) \ ' thought he. There- fore the horse-sacrifice is called A6va-medha. He, verily, knows the A3va-medha, who knows it thus. He kept him [i.e. the horse] in mind without confining him. After a year he sacrificed him for himself, [Other] animals he delivered over to the divinities. Therefore men sacrifice the victim which is consecrated to Prajapati as though offered unto all the gods. free for a year. Verily, that [sun] which gives forth heat is the Asva-medha. The year is its embodiment (atmau). This [eaithly] fire is the ar&a. The worlds are its embodi- ments. These aie two, the arka sacrificial fire and the A^va- medha sacrifice. Yet again they are one divinity, even Death. He [who knows this] wards off death again, death obtains him not, death becomes his body (atman\ he becomes one of these deities.

(4) On this point there is this verse: — When are liberated all The desires that lodge in one's heart, Then a mortal becomes immortal! Therein he reaches Brahma! As the slough of a snake lies on an ant-hill, dead, cast off, even so lies this body. But this incorporeal, immortal Life (prana) is Brahma indeed, is light indeed/ ' I will give you, noble Sir, a thousand [cows],' said Janaka, [king] of Videha.

(2) Gargya said. 'The Person who is here in wind — him, indeed, I worship as Brahma! ' Ajatasatru said: ' Talk not to me about him! Verily, I worship him as Indra, the terrible (vaikuntha), and the uncon- quered army. He who worships him as such becomes indeed triumphant, unconquerable, and a conqueror of adversaries/

(17) 'He who has three times performed this Nâkiketa rite, and has been united with the three (father, mother, and teacher), and has performed the three duties (study, sacrifice, almsgiving) overcomes birth and death. When he has learnt and understood this fire, which knows (or makes us know) all that is born of Brahman, which is venerable and divine, then he obtains everlasting peace.'

(3) Then Bhujyu Lahyayani questioned him. £ Yajfiavalkya/ said he, ( we were traveling around as wanderers among the Madras. As such we came to the house of Pataficala Kapya. He had a daughter who was possessed by a Gandharva. We asked him: " Who are you? " He said: " I am Sudhanvan, a descendant of Angiras." When we were asking him about the ends of the earth, we said to him: " What has become of the Parikshitas? What has become of the Parikshitas? "— I now ask you, Yajnavalkya. What has become of the Pari- kshitas? ' a. He said: ' That one doubtless said, c{ They have, in truth, gone whither the offerers of the horse-sacrifice go." ' ' Where, pray, do the offerers of the horse-sacrifice go? ' c This inhabited world, of a truth, is as broad as thirty-two days [i.e. days' journeys] of the sun-god's chariot. The earth, which is twice as wide, surrounds it on all sides. The ocean, which is twice as wide, surrounds the earth on all sides. Then there is an interspace as broad as the edge of a razor or the wing of a mosquito. Indra, taking the form of a bird, delivered them [i.e. the Parikshitas] to Wind. Wind, placing them in himself, led them where the offerers of the horse-sacrifice were. Somewhat thus he [i.e. Sudhanvan] praised Wind. Therefore Wind alone is individuality (vyasti). Wind is totality (samastf). He who knows this overcomes a second death.' Thereupon Bhujyu Lahyayani held his peace.

(1) When the Father produced by intellect And austenty seven kinds of food, One of his [foods] was common to all, Of two he let the gods partake, Three he made for himself, One he bestowed upon the animals On this [food] everything depends, Both what breathes and what does not. How is it that these do not peiish When they are being eaten all the time He who knows this imperishableness— He eats food with his mouth (pratika), He goes to the gods, He lives on strength. Thus the verses.

(18) 'He who knows the three Nâkiketa fires, and knowing the three, piles up the Nâkiketa sacrifice, he, having first thrown off the chains of death, rejoices in the world of heaven, beyond the reach of grief.'

(2) 'May we be able to master that Nâkiketa rite which is a bridge for sacrificers; also that which is the highest, imperishable Brahman for those who wish to cross over to the fearless shore.'