(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

(10) Whatever state a man, whose nature is purified imagines, and whatever desires he desires (for himself or for others), that state he conquers and those desires he obtains. Therefore let every man who desires happiness worship the man who knows the Self.

(2) He who forms desires in his mind, is born again through his desires here and there. But to him whose desires are fulfilled and who is conscious of the true Self (within himself) all desires vanish, even here on earth.

(1) Verily, the person here who knows this, is himself that Prajapati with the sixteen parts who is the year. The fifteen parts are his wealth. The sixteenth part is his self (atman). In wealth alone [not in self] is one increased and diminished. That which is the self (atman) is a hub; wealth, a felly. Therefore even if one is overcome by the loss of everything, provided he himself lives, people say merely. ' He has come off with the loss of a felly! ' The three worlds and how to win them j 6. Now, there are of a truth three worlds — the world of men, the world of the fathers, and the world of the gods.. This world of men is to be obtained by a son only, by no other means; the world of the fathers, by sacrifice; the world of the gods, by knowledge. The world of the gods is verily the best of worlds. Therefore they praise knowledge. A father's transmission to his son

(4) On this point there is this verse: Where one's mind is attached — the inner self Goes thereto with action, being attached to it alone. Obtaining the end of his action, Whatever he does in this world, He comes again from that world To this world of action. — So the man who desires. The soul of the released Now the man who does not desire. — He who is without desire, who is freed from desire, whose desire is satisfied, whose desire is the Soul — his breaths do not depart. Being very Brahma, he goes to Brahma.

(1) So that Brahma [appeared as] Kshatra, Vis, and Sudra. So among the gods Biahma appeared by means of Agni, among men as a Brahman, as a Kshatriya by means of the [divine] Kshatriya, as a Vaisya by means of the [divine] Vai^ya, as a Sudra by means of the [divine] Sudra. Therefore people desire a place among the gods in Agni, among men in a Brah- man, for by these two forms [pre-eminently] Brahma appeared. Now whoever depaits from this world [i. e. the world of the Atman] without having recognized it as his own, to him it is of no service, because it is unknown, as the unrecited Vedas or any other undone deed [do not help a man]. Verily, even if one performs a great and holy work, but without knowing this, that work of his merely perishes in the end. One should worship the Self alone as his [true] world The work of him who worships the Self alone as his world does not perish, for out of that very Self he creates whatsoever he desires. 1 6. Now this Self, verily, is a world of all created things. In so far as a man makes offerings and sacrifices, he becomes the world of the gods In so far as he learns [the Vedas], he becomes the world of the seers (rsi). In so far as he offers libations to the fathers and desiies offspring, he becomes the world of the fathers. In so far as he gives lodging and food to men, he becomes the world of men. In so far as he finds grass and water for animals, he becomes the world of animals. In so far as beasts and birds, even to the ants, find a living in his houses, he becomes their world. Verily, as one would desire security for his own world, so all creatures wish security for him who has this knowledge. This fact, verily, is known when it is thought out.

(40) Thinking thus, direct thy wish, and enter into the womb. At the same time, emit thy gift-waves [of grace, or good-will] upon the womb which thou art entering, [transforming it thereby] into a celestial mansion. And believing that the Conquerors and their Sons [or Bodhisattvas] of the Ten Directions, and the tutelary deities, especially the Great Compassionate [One}, are conferring power thereon, pray unto Them, and enter the womb.

(45) When I behold the future parents in union, Let it come that I behold them as the [Divine] Pair, the Conquerors, the Peaceful and the Wrathful Father and Mother; Obtaining the power of being born anywhere, for the good of others, Let it come that I obtain the perfect body, adorned with the signs and the graces.

(40) Whatsoever they [the wombs or visions] may appear to be, do not regard them as they are [or seem]; and by not being attracted or repelled a good womb should be chosen. In this, too, since it is important to direct the wish, direct it thus: Ah! I ought to take birth as a Universal Emperor; or as a Brahmin, like a great sal-tree; or as the son of an adept in siddhic powers; or in a spotless hierarchical line; or in the caste of a man who is filled with [religious] faith; and, being born so, be endowed with great merit so as to be able to serve all sentient beings.'

(45) Obtaining for myself the body of a male [which is] the better, Let it come that I liberate all who see or hear me; Allowing not the evil karma to follow me, Let it come that whatever merits [be mine] follow me and be multiplied. Wherever I be born, there and then, Let it come that I meet the Conquerors, the Peaceful and the Wrathful Deities; Being able to walk and to talk as soon as [I am] born, Let it come that I obtain the non-forgetting intellect and remember my past life [or lives]. In all the various lores, great, small, and intermediate, Let it come that I be able to obtain mastery merely upon hearing, reflecting, and seeing; In whatever place I be born, let it be auspicious; Let it come that all sentient beings be endowed with happiness. Ye Conquerors, Peaceful and Wrathful, in likeness to your bodies, [Number of your] followers, duration of your life-period, limit of your realms And [in likeness to the] goodness of your divine name, Let it come that I, and others, equal your very selves in all these. By the divine grace of the innumerable All-Good Peaceful and Wrathful [Ones}, And by the gift-waves of the wholly pure Reality, [And] by the gift-waves of the one-pointed devotion of the mystic devotees, Let it come that whatsoever be wished for be fulfilled here and now.

(1) In the beginning this world was just the Self (Atman), one only. He wished; c Would that I had a wife; then I would procreate. Would that I had wealth; then I would offer sacrifice.' So great, indeed, is desire. Not even if one desired, would he get more than that. Therefore even today when one is lonely one wishes: ' Would that I had a wife, then I would procreate. Would that I had wealth, then I would offer sacrifice. So far as he does not obtain any one of these, he thinks that he is, assuredly, incomplete. Now his complete- ness is as follows: his mind truly is his self (dtmaii); his voice is his wife; his breath is his offspring; his eye is his worldly wealth, for with his eye he finds; his ear is his heavenly [wealth], for with his ear he hears it, his body (dtman\ indeed, is his work, for with his body he performs work. The sacrifice is fivefold. The sacrificial animal is fivefold. A person is fivefold. This whole world, whatever there is, is fivefold. He obtains this whole world who knows this.

(39) Thinking thus, direct the resolution [or wish] earnestly [to that Realm]; or, likewise, to any Realm thou mayst desire — The Pre-eminently Happy Realm, or The Thickly-Formed Realm, or The Realm [of Those} of Long Hair, or the Illimitable Vihara of the Lotus Radiance, in Urgyan's presence; or direct thy wish to any Realm which thou desirest most, in undistracted one-pointedness [of mind]. By doing so, birth will take place in that Realm instantaneously.

(6) Come hither, come hither! the brilliant oblations say to him, and carry the sacrificer on the rays of the sun, while they utter pleasant speech and praise him, saying: 'This is thy holy Brahma-world (Svarga), gained by thy good works.'

(5) If one should receive these three worlds full, he would receive that first line of it [i.e. the Gayatri]. If one should receive as much as is this threefold knowledge, he would receive that second line of it. If one should receive as much as there is breathing here, he would receive that third line of it. But that fourth (turlyd), sightly foot, the one above-the-darksome, who glows yonder, is not obtainable by any one whatsoever. Whence, pray, would one receive so much '

(4) He who has found and has awakened to the Soul That has entered this conglomeiate abode — He is the maker of everything, for he is the creator of all, The world is his: indeed, he is the world itself.

(25) 'Whatever desires are difficult to attain among mortals, ask for them according to thy wish;--these fair maidens with their chariots and musical instruments,--such are indeed not to be obtained by men,--be waited on by them whom I give to thee, but do not ask me about dying.'

(332) Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother, pleasant the state of a father, pleasant the state of a Samana, pleasant the state of a Brâhmana.

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

(13) 'A mortal who has heard this and embraced it, who has separated from it all qualities, and has thus reached the subtle Being, rejoices, because he has obtained what is a cause for rejoicing. The house (of Brahman) is open, I believe, O Nakiketas.'

(9) They having enjoyed the vast Heaven-world, the merit being exhausted, enter the world of mortals; thus, those who desire enjoyments, abiding by the law of the Vedas have to go and return endlessly.