(4) This very [doctrine] has been declared in the verse: — This eternal greatness of a Brahman Is not increased by deeds (karma), nor diminished. One should be familiar with it. By knowing it, One is not stained by evil action. Therefore, having this knowledge, having become calm, subdued, quiet, patiently enduring, and collected, one sees the Soul just in the soul. One sees everything as the Soul. Evil does not overcome him; he overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him; he burns all evil. Free from evil, free from impurity, free from doubt, he becomes a Brahman. This is the Brahma-world, O king/ said Yajnavalkya. [Janaka said:] ' I will give you, noble Sir, the Videhas and myself also to be your slave.'

(4) ' Let us hear what anybody may have told you/ [con- tinued Yajnavalkya]. £ As a man might say that he had a mother, that he had a father, that he had a teacher, so did that Jabala say, "Brahma is mind." For he might have thought, "What can one have who is without a mind? " But did he tell you Its^seat and support?' ' He did not tell me. ' Verily, Yajnavalkya, do you here tell us.' £ Its seat is just the mind; Its support, space. One should worship It as the blissful (ananda).' c What is Its blissfulness, Yajnavalkya? ' 'Just the mind, your Majesty/ said he. c Verily, your Majesty, by the mind one betakes himself to a woman. A son like himself is born of her. He is bliss. Verily, your Majesty, the highest Brahma is mind. Mind does not desert him who, knowing this, worships it as such. All things run unto him. He, becoming a god, goes to the gods/ ' I will give you a thousand cows with a bull as large as an elephant/ said Janaka, [king] of Videha. Yajnavalkya replied: 'My father thought that without having instructed one should not accept.'

(16) 'That (imperishable) syllable means Brahman, that syllable means the highest (Brahman); he who knows that syllable, whatever he desires, is his.'

(4) For he is the Breath shining forth in all beings, and he who understands this becomes truly wise, not a talker only. He revels in the Self, he delights in the Self, and having performed his works (truthfulness, penance, meditation, &c.) he rests, firmly established in Brahman, the best of those who know Brahman.

(4) If one is fortunate among men and wealthy, lord over others, best provided with all human enjoyments — that is the highest bliss of men. Now a hundredfold the bliss of men is one bliss of those who have won the fathers' world. Now a hundredfold the bliss of those who have won the fathers' world is one bliss in the Gandharva- world. A hundredfold the bliss in the Gandharva-world is one bliss of the gods who gain their divinity by meritorious works. A hundredfold the bliss of the gods by works is one bliss of the gods by birth and of him who is learned in the Vedas, who is without crook- edness, and who is free from desire. A hundredfold the bliss of the gods by birth is one bliss in the Prajapati- world and of him who is learned in the Vedas, who is without crookedness, and who is free from desire. A hundredfold the bliss in the Prajapati-world is one bliss in the Brahma-world and of him who is learned in the Vedas, who is without crookedness, and who is free from desire. This truly is the highest world. This is the Brahma-world, O king/ — Thus spake Yajnavalkya, [Janaka said:] c I will give you, noble Sir, a thousand [cows]. Speak further than this, for my release.' Then Yajnavalkya feared, thinking: ' This intelligent king has driven me out of every corner.' l

(12) Than practice (without discrimination) knowledge (derived from the study of the Sastras) is better indeed! than (such) knowledge, meditation is better, than meditation (stillness of mind at the time of meditation) renunciation of all fruits of action is better; immediately after renunciation peace is attained.

(6) Om \ Verily, he who knows the chiefest and best, becomes the chiefest and best of his own [people]. Breath (prdna\ verily, is chiefest and best. He who knows this becomes the chiefest and best of his own [people] and even of those of whom he wishes so to become. 5 A parallel passage in simpler form is Chand. 5.1. 1-5,

(4) Verily, he Is the great, unborn Soul, who is this [person] consisting of knowledge among the senses. In the space within the heart lies the ruler of all, the lord of all, the king of all. He does not become gi eater by good action nor inferior by bad action. He is the lord of all, the overlord of beings, the protector of beings. He is the separating dam for keeping these worlds apart. Such a one the Brahmans desire to know by repetition of the Vedas, by sacrifices, by offerings, by penance, by fasting. On knowing him, in truth, one becomes an ascetic (muni). Desiring him only as their home, mendicants wander forth. Verily, because they know this, the ancients desired not off- spring, saying: <c What shall we do with offspring, we whose is this Soul, this home? " They, verily, rising above the desire for sons and the desire for wealth and the desire for worlds, lived the life of a mendicant. For the desire for sons is the desire for wealth, and the desire for wealth is the desire for worlds; for both these are desires. That Soul (Atman) is not this, it is not that (neti, neti}. It is unseizable, for it cannot be seized. It is indestructible, for it cannot be destroyed. It is unattached, for it does not attach Itself. It is unbound. It does not tremble. It is not injured. Him [who knows this] these two do not overcome — neither the thought <c Hence I did wrong," nor the thought " Hence I did right/' Verily, he overcomes them both. What he has done and what he has not done do not affect him.

(4) ' Let us hear what anybody may have told you/ [con- tinued Yajnavalkya]. ' Barku Varshna told me: " Brahma, verily, is sight."' 'As a man might say that he had a mother, that he had a father, that he had a teacher, so did that Varshna say, « Brahma is sight (caksti)" For he might have thought, " What can one have who can not see? " But did he tell you Its seat and support? ' < He did not tell me.' ' Forsooth, your Majesty, that is a one-legged [Brahma].' ' Verily, Yajnavalkya, do you here tell us/ £Its seat is just sight; Its support, space. One should worship It as the true (satya)' ' What is Its truthfulness, Yajnavalkya?' when they say to a man who sees with his eyes, " Have you seen? " and he says, " I have seen," that is the truth. Verily, your Majesty, the highest Brahma is sight. Sight leaves not him who, knowing this, worships it as such. All things run unto him. He, becoming a god, goes to the gods. elephant, said Janaka, [king] of Videha. Yajnavalkya replied: ' My father thought that without having instructed one should not accept.'

(9) He who knows that highest Brahman, becomes even Brahman. In his race no one is born ignorant of Brahman. He overcomes grief, he overcomes evil; free from the fetters of the heart, he becomes immortal.

(1) Here people say: £ Since men think that by the knowledge of Brahma they become the All, what, pray, was it that Brahma knew whereby he became the All? '

(2) 'Whatever there is, the whole world, when gone forth (from the Brahman), trembles in its breath. That Brahman is a great terror, like a drawn sword. Those who know it become immortal.'

(4) An ocean, a seer alone without duality, becomes he whose world is Brahma, O King! ' — thus Yajnavalkya instructed him. £ This is a man's highest path. This is his highest achievement. This is his highest world. This is his highest bliss. On a part of just this bliss other creatures have their living.