(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) 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) 'Now that serene being which, after having risen from out this earthly body, and having reached the highest light (self-knowledge), appears in its true form, that is the Self,' thus he spoke (when asked by his pupils). This is the immortal, the fearless, this is Brahman. And of that Brahman the name is the True, Satyam,

(9) 'From him who perceives all and who knows all, whose brooding (penance) consists of knowledge, from him (the highest Brahman) is born that Brahman, name, form, and matter (food).'

(1) What people call sacrifice (yagña), that is really abstinence (brahmakarya). For he who knows, obtains that (world of Brahman, which others obtain by sacrifice), by means of abstinence. What people call sacrifice (ishta), that is really abstinence, for by abstinence, having searched (ishtvâ), he obtains the Self.

(1) Now of works, — That which is called the Body (atman) is their hymn of praise (ttktha), for from it arise (ut-tha) all actions. It is their Saman (chant), for it is the same (sama) as all works. It is their prayer (brahman), for it supports ( Vbhar) all works. Although it is that triad, this Soul (Atman) is one. Although it is one, it is that triad. That is the Im- mortal veiled by the real (satya). Life (prana^ ' breath ') [a designation of the Atman], verily, is the Immortal. Name and form are the real. By them this Life is veiled.

(11) That immortal Brahman is before, that Brahman is behind, that Brahman is right and left. It has gone forth below and above; Brahman alone is all this, it is the best.

(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) 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.

(1) Verily, in the beginning this world was Brahma, It knew only itself (atmanam): is the source of Kshatrahood. Therefore, even if the king attains supremacy, he rests finally upon Brahmanhood as his own source, So whoever injures him [i.e. a Brahman] attacks his own source. He fares worse in proportion as he injures one who is better. is. He was not yet developed. He created the Vis (the commonalty),those kinds of gods that are mentioned in numbers: the Vasus, the Rudras, the Adityas, the Vi^vadevas, the Maruts.

(4) He from whom all works, all desires, all sweet odours and tastes proceed, who embraces all this, who never speaks and who is never surprised, he, my self within the heart, is that Brahman (n.) When I shall have departed from hence, I shall obtain him (that Self). He who has this faith has no doubt; thus said Sândilya , yea, thus he said.

(3) Now Kahola Kaushltakeya questioned him. * Yajna- valkya/ said he, ' explain to me him who is just the Brahma present and not beyond our ken, him who is the Soul in all things. ' He is your soul, which is in all things/ ' He who passes beyond hunger and thirst, beyond sorrow and delusion, beyond old age and death — Brahmans who know such a Soul overcome desire for sons, desire for wealth, desire for worlds, and live the life of mendicants. For desire for sons is desire for wealth, and desire for wealth is desire for worlds, for both these are merely desires. Therefore let a Brahman become disgusted with learning and desire to live as a child. When he has become disgusted both with the state of childhood and with learning, then he becomes an ascetic (muni). When he has become disgusted both with the non-ascetic state and with the ascetic state, then he becomes a Brahman/ us ' By what means would he become a Brahman? ' Aught else than this Soul (Atman) is wretched/ Thereupon Kahola Kaushitakeya held his peace.

(1) All this is Brahman (n.) Let a man meditate on that (visible world) as beginning, ending, and breathing in it (the Brahman). Now man is a creature of will. According to what his will is in this world, so will he be when he has departed this life. Let him therefore have this will and belief:

(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/

(9) In the highest golden sheath there is the Brahman without passions and without parts. That is pure, that is the light of lights, that is it which they know who know the Self.

(10) The Person is all this, sacrifice, penance, Brahman, the highest immortal; he who knows this hidden in the cave (of the heart), he, O friend, scatters the knot of ignorance here on earth.

(8) 'The Brahman swells by means of brooding (penance); hence is produced matter (food); from matter breath, mind, the true, the worlds (seven), and from the works (performed by men in the worlds), the immortal (the eternal effects, rewards, and punishments of works).'

(6) Ghora Âṅgirasa, after having communicated this (view of the sacrifice) to Krishna, the son of Devăkî --and he never thirsted again (after other knowledge)--said: 'Let a man, when his end approaches, take refuge with this Triad : "Thou art the imperishable," "Thou art the unchangeable," "Thou art the edge of Prâna."' On this subject there are two Rik verses (Rig-veda VIII, 6, 30):--

(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.'

(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.