(6) Man (purusd), verily, is a sacrificial fire, O Gautama. The open mouth, verily, is its fuel; breath (prdnd), the smoke, speech, the flame; the eye, the coals; the ear, the sparks. In this fire the gods offer food. From this oblation semen arises.

(6) This world, verily, is a sacrificial fire, 0 Gautama. The earth, in truth, is its fuel; fire, the smoke; night, the flame; the moon, the coals; the stars, the sparks. In this fire the gods offer rain. From this oblation food arises.

(6) Woman, verily, is a sacrificial fire, O Gautama. The sexual organ, in truth, is its fuel; the hairs, the smoke; the vulva, the flame; when one inserts, the coals; the feelings of pleasure, the sparks. In this oblation the gods offer semen. From this oblation a person (puni$a) arises. He lives as long as he lives. Then when he dies, [14] then they carry him to the fire. His fire, in truth, becomes the fire; fuel, the fuel; smoke, the smoke; ffame, the flame; coals, the coals; sparks, the sparks. In this fire the gods offer a person (purusa). From this oblation the man arises having the color of light. '

(6) c Yonder world, verily, is a sacrificial fire, O Gautama. The sun, in truth, is its fuel; the light-rays, the smoke; the day, the flame; the quarters of heaven, the coals; the inter- mediate quarters, the sparks. In this fire the gods offer faith (smddha). From this oblation King Soma arises.

(29) In the center of the room, almost against the partition leading into the Holy of Holies, stood the Altar of Burnt Incense, made of wood overlaid with golden plates. Its width and length were each a cubit and its height was two cubits. This altar was symbolic of the human larynx, from which the words of man's mouth ascend as an acceptable offering unto the Lord, for the larynx occupies the position in the constitution of man between the Holy Place, which is the trunk of his body, and the Holy of Holies, which is the head with its contents.

(3) [Sakalya said:] f What divinity have you in this fixed quarter [L e. the zenith]? ' ' The god Agni/ ' That Agni — on what is he based? ' ' On speech/ ' And on what is speech based? '

(2) When the fire is lighted and the flame flickers, let a man offer his oblations between the two portions of melted butter, as an offering with faith.

(2) This fire is honey for all things, and all things are honey for this fire. This shining, immortal Person who is in this fire, and, with reference to oneself, this shining, immortal Person who is made of speech — he is just this Soul, this Immortal, this Brahma, this All.

(4) ' Let us hear what anybody may have told you,' [con- tinued Yajnavalkya]. 'Jitvan Sailini told me: " Brahma, verily, is speech (vac)"' [said Janaka]. 'As a man might say that he had a mother, that he had a father, that he had a teacher, so did that Sailina say, " Brahma, verily, is speech." For he might have thought (iti), '* What can one have who can not speak? " But did he tell you Its seat and support?' ' He did not tell me.' ' Forsooth, your Majesty, that is a one-legged [Brahma].' ' Its seat is just speech; Its support, space (akasa). One should worship It as intelligence (prajna)' ' What is Its quality of intelligence, Yajnavalkya? ' 'Just speech, your Majesty,' said he. c Verily, by speech, your Majesty, a friend is recognized. By speech alone, your Majesty, the Rig- Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the [Hymns] of the Atharvans and Angirases, Legends (itika$a\ Ancient Lore (pur and], Sciences (vidya), Mystic Doctrines (upanisad)) Verses (sloka), Aphorisms (sutra\ Explanations (anuvyakhyand)) Commentaries (uyakkyana), what is offered in sacrifice and as oblation, food and drink, this world and the other, and all beings are known. The highest Brahma, your Majesty, is in truth speech. Speech does not desert him be noted, takes the active bruyat as if it were middle voice — a late epic usage. 2 A designation of the Atharva-Veda. who, knowing this, worships it as such. All things run unto him. He, having become a god, goes even to the gods/ { I will give you a thousand cows with a bull as large as an elephant/ said Janaka, [king] of Videha. Yajfiavalkya replied: 'My father thought that without having instructed one should not accept'

(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/

(12) Now breathing together (sumpnoia) is properly said of the Church. For the sacrifice of the Church is the word breathing as incense from holy souls, the sacrifice and the whole mind being at the same time unveiled to God. Now the very ancient altar in Delos they celebrated as holy; which alone, being undefiled by slaughter and death, they say Pythagoras approached. And will they not believe us when we say that the righteous soul is the truly sacred altar, and that incense arising from it is holy prayer? But I believe sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for eating flesh. But without such idolatry he who wished might have partaken of flesh.

(1) * Three he made for himself Mind, speech, breath — these he made for himself. People say: ' My mind was elsewhere; I did not see. My rnind was elsewhere; I did not hear. It is with the mind, truly, that one sees. It is with the mind that one hears. Desire, imagination, doubt, faith, lack of faith, steadfastness, lack of steadfastness, shame, meditation, fear — all this is truly mind. Therefore even if one is touched on his back, he discerns it with the mind. Whatever sound there is, it is just speech. Verily, it comes to an end [as human speech]; verily, it does not [as the heavenly voice]. The in-breath, the out-breath, the diffused breath, the up-breath, the middle-breath — all this is just breath. Verily, the self (dtman) consists of speech, mind, and breath.

(6) Speech said: ' Verily, wherein I am the most excellent, therein are you the most excellent/ ' Verily, wherein I am a firm basis therein are you a firm basis/ said the eye. c Verily, wherein I am attainment, therein are you attain- ment,' said the ear. said the mind. ( Verily, wherein I am procreation, therein are you procrea- tion/ said the semen. f If such I anij what is my food? what is my dwelling? ' flying insects — that is your food. Water is your dwelling/ Verily, what is not food is not eaten; what is not food is not taken by him who thus knows that [i.e. water] as the food (anna) of breath (ana). Those who know this, who are versed in sacred learning (srotriya), when they are about to eat, take a sip; after they have eaten, they take a sip. So, indeed, they think they make that breath (ana) not naked (anagna).

(6) A rain-cloud, verily, is a sacrificial fire, O Gautama. The year, in truth, is its fuel; the thunder-clouds, the smoke; the lightning, the flame, the thunder-bolts, the coals; the hail-stones, the sparks. In this fire the gods offer King Soma. From this oblation rain arises.

(4) Fire (the sky) is his head, his eyes the sun and the moon, the quarters his ears, his speech the Vedas disclosed, the wind his breath, his heart the universe; from his feet came the earth; he is indeed the inner Self of all things.

(8) 'There is Agni (fire), the all-seeing, hidden in the two fire-sticks, well-guarded like a child (in the womb) by the mother, day after day to be adored by men when they awake and bring oblations. This is that.'

(5) On this point, verily, Janaka, [king] of Videha, spoke as follows to Budila Asvatarasvi: f^io! Now if you spoke of yourself thus as a knower of the Gayatri, how then have you come to be an elephant and are carrying? ' ' Because, great king, I did not know its mouth/ said he. Its mouth is fire. Verily, indeed, even if they lay very much 1 RV. 3. 62. 1: On this, of Savitri the god, The choicest glory let us think. Our thoughts may he himself inspire! on a fire, it burns it all. Even so one who knows this, al- though he commits very much evil, consumes it all and becomes clean and puie, ageless and immortal

(2) Gargya said: 'The Person who is here in fire — him, indeed, I worship as Brahma ' ' Ajatasatru said: ' Talk not to me about him! I worship him, verily, as the Vanquisher. He who worships him as such becomes a vanquisher 'indeed. His offspring become van- quishers/

(4) But when the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire has gone out, what light does a person here have? ' £ Speech, indeed, is his light/ said he, f for with speech, indeed, as his light one sits, moves around, does his work, and returns. Therefore, verily, O king, where one does not discern even his own hands, when a voice is raised, then one goes straight towards it.' ' Quite so, Yajnavalkya.

(6) 5. The basin, the fire of which is a blazing flame; the front of the fire, the god in it is the bearer of altars