Section 4.3

4.3.1 Yajnavalkya went to Janaka of Videha,intending not to speak with him.But when Janaka of Videha and Yajnavalkya had discussed the fire offering together,Yajnavalkya had granted him a boon.He had chosen the freedom to ask any question he wished.Yajnavalkya had granted it to him.So the king was the first to question him.

4.3.2 "Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""The light of the sun, Your Majesty," he said."By the sun's light he sits, goes about, does his work, and returns.""That is so, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.3 "When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""The moon becomes his light.By the moon's light he sits, goes about, does his work, and returns.""That is so, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.4 "When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, what light does this person have?""Fire becomes his light.By fire's light he sits, goes about, does his work, and returns.""That is so, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.5 "When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire has gone out, what light does this person have?""Speech becomes his light.By the light of speech he sits, goes about, does his work, and returns.That is why, Your Majesty, even where one cannot distinguish one's own hand, one makes one's way toward the place from which a voice sounds.""That is so, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.6 "When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire has gone out, and speech has fallen silent, what light does this person have?""The Self becomes his light.By the light of the Self he sits, goes about, does his work, and returns."

4.3.7 "Which is the Self?""This person made of awareness among the vital powers, the light within the heart.Remaining the same, he travels through both worlds; he seems to think, seems to move.For, becoming a dreamer, he passes beyond this world, beyond the forms of death.

4.3.8 "When this person is born and takes on a body, he becomes joined to evils.When he departs, dying, he leaves those evils behind.

4.3.9 "This person has just two stations:this one, and the station in the other world.A third, the station of dreams, lies at their meeting place.Standing in that meeting place, he sees both stations—this one and the station in the other world.Whatever approach he has to the station in the other world,he takes that approach and sees both its evils and its joys.When he sleeps, he takes material from this all-containing world, breaks it apart himself, and builds it himself, and dreams by his own radiance, by his own light.Here this person becomes his own light.

4.3.10 "There are no chariots there, no teams for chariots, no roads.Then he creates chariots, teams for chariots, and roads.There are no joys there, no delights, no great delights.Then he creates joys, delights, and great delights.There are no pools there, no lotus ponds, no rivers.Then he creates pools, lotus ponds, and rivers.For he is the maker.

4.3.11 "On this there are these verses:‘Striking down the bodily self in sleep, unsleeping, he looks upon those asleep.Taking the radiance, he returns to his station—the golden person, the solitary swan.

4.3.12 ‘Guarding with breath the nest below, the deathless one wanders outside the nest.Deathless, he goes wherever he wishes—the golden person, the solitary swan.

4.3.13 ‘Moving high and low in the realm of dreams, the radiant one makes many forms:as if delighting with women, as if laughing, or even seeing fearful things.

4.3.14 ‘People see his pleasure ground; no one sees him.’They say, ‘Do not wake him suddenly.’For a person to whom he does not return is hard to heal.But they also say, ‘This is simply his waking realm.’For what he sees awake, he sees asleep.Here this person becomes his own light.""I give you a thousand, venerable sir.Tell me more, beyond this, toward liberation."

4.3.15 "After delighting and wandering in this serenity, and simply seeing good and evil, he hurries back by the way he came to his place of origin—to the dream state.Whatever he sees there does not follow him.For this person is unattached.""That is so, Yajnavalkya.I give you a thousand, venerable sir.Tell me more, beyond this, toward liberation alone."

4.3.16 "After delighting and wandering in this dream state, and simply seeing good and evil, he hurries back by the way he came to his place of origin—to the waking state.Whatever he sees there does not follow him.For this person is unattached.""That is so, Yajnavalkya.I give you a thousand, venerable sir.Tell me more, beyond this, toward liberation alone."

4.3.17 "After delighting and wandering in this waking state, and simply seeing good and evil, he hurries back by the way he came to his place of origin—to the realm of dreams.

4.3.18 "As a great fish travels along both banks, the nearer and the farther,so this person travels through both these realms, the realm of dreams and the realm of waking.

4.3.19 "As a hawk or an eagle, tired after flying about in the sky, folds its wings and settles down to rest,so this person hastens toward that statewhere, asleep, he desires no desire and dreams no dream.

4.3.20 "His channels called Hita are as fine as a hair split a thousand times.They are filled with white, blue, brown, green, and red.When it seems that people are killing him or overpowering him, that an elephant is chasing him, or that he is falling into a pit,he imagines there, through ignorance, the very terrors he sees when awake.But when, like a god or a king, he thinks, ‘I alone am all this,’that is his highest world.

4.3.21 "This is his form beyond desire, free of evil and free of fear.As a man embraced by a beloved woman knows nothing outside or inside,so this person, embraced by the knowing Self, knows nothing outside or inside.This is his form in which desire is fulfilled, in which the Self is his desire, in which there is no desire, and which lies beyond sorrow.

4.3.22 "Here a father is no father, a mother no mother, worlds no worlds, gods no gods, Vedas no Vedas.Here a thief is no thief, a murderer no murderer, a Chandala no Chandala, a Paulkasa no Paulkasa, a wandering ascetic no wandering ascetic, a practitioner of austerities no practitioner of austerities.He is not followed by good; he is not followed by evil.For then he has crossed beyond all the sorrows of the heart.

4.3.23 "When he does not see, he is indeed seeing, though he does not see.For the seer's seeing cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might see.

4.3.24 "When he does not smell, he is indeed smelling, though he does not smell.For the smeller's smelling cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might smell.

4.3.25 "When he does not taste, he is indeed tasting, though he does not taste.For the taster's tasting cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might taste.

4.3.26 "When he does not speak, he is indeed speaking, though he does not speak.For the speaker's speaking cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, of which he might speak.

4.3.27 "When he does not hear, he is indeed hearing, though he does not hear.For the hearer's hearing cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might hear.

4.3.28 "When he does not think, he is indeed thinking, though he does not think.For the thinker's thinking cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might think of.

4.3.29 "When he does not touch, he is indeed touching, though he does not touch.For the toucher's touching cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might touch.

4.3.30 "When he does not know, he is indeed knowing, though he does not know.For the knower's knowing cannot be lost, since it is imperishable.But there is no second thing there, other and separate from him, that he might know.

4.3.31 "Where there seems to be something other, one might see another, smell another, taste another, speak of another, hear another, think of another, touch another, know another.

4.3.32 "He becomes one sea, a seer without a second.This is the world of Brahman, Your Majesty."So Yajnavalkya instructed him."This is his highest goal.This is his highest wealth.This is his highest world.This is his highest bliss.Other beings live on just a measure of this very bliss.

4.3.33 "A human being who is successful and prosperous, a ruler over others, most richly endowed with every human enjoyment—his is the highest human bliss.A hundred such measures of human bliss make one measure of bliss for the ancestors who have won their world.A hundred such measures of bliss for the ancestors who have won their world make one measure of bliss in the world of the Gandharvas.A hundred such measures of bliss in the world of the Gandharvas make one measure of bliss for the gods of action, who attain divinity through their actions.A hundred such measures of bliss for the gods of action make one measure of bliss for the gods by birth,and for one who knows the sacred lore, is free from crookedness, and is unstruck by desire.A hundred such measures of bliss for the gods by birth make one measure of bliss in the world of Prajapati,and for one who knows the sacred lore, is free from crookedness, and is unstruck by desire.A hundred such measures of bliss in the world of Prajapati make one measure of bliss in the world of Brahman,and for one who knows the sacred lore, is free from crookedness, and is unstruck by desire.This, indeed, is the highest bliss.This is the world of Brahman, Your Majesty,"said Yajnavalkya."I give you a thousand, venerable sir.Tell me more, beyond this, toward liberation alone."At this Yajnavalkya became afraid: "This discerning king has driven me out of all my defenses."

4.3.34 "After delighting and wandering in this realm of dreams, and simply seeing good and evil, he hurries back by the way he came to his place of origin—to the waking state.

4.3.35 "As a heavily loaded cart moves along creaking, so this bodily self, mounted by the knowing Self, moves along groaningwhen a person begins to gasp for breath.

4.3.36 "When he grows weak—whether through old age or through illness he dwindles away—as a mango, an udumbara fig, or a peepal fig is freed from its stem,so this person is freed from these limbs and hurries back by the way he came to his place of origin—to life itself.

4.3.37 "As armed officials, magistrates, charioteers, and village headmen prepare food, drink, and lodgings for a king who is coming, saying, ‘Here he comes! Here he approaches!’so all beings prepare for one who knows this, saying, ‘Here Brahman comes! Here it approaches!’

4.3.38 "As armed officials, magistrates, charioteers, and village headmen gather around a king who is about to depart,so all the vital powers gather around this self at the final hour,when a person begins to gasp for breath."

4.3.1 Yajnavalkya went to Janaka of Videha.He thought, "I will not speak with him."But Janaka of Videha and Yajnavalkya had once discussed the Agnihotra offering together.Yajnavalkya had granted him a blessing.He had chosen the right to ask whatever questions he wanted.Yajnavalkya had granted it.So the king was the first to question him.

4.3.2 "Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""The light of the sun, Your Majesty," he said."With the sun as their light, they sit, go about, do their work, and return.""That is right, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.3 "When the sun has set, Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""The moon becomes their light.With the moon as their light, they sit, go about, do their work, and return.""That is right, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.4 "When the sun has set and the moon has set, Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""Fire becomes their light.With fire as their light, they sit, go about, do their work, and return.""That is right, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.5 "When the sun has set, the moon has set, and the fire has gone out, Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""Speech becomes their light.With speech as their light, they sit, go about, do their work, and return.That is why, Your Majesty, even where someone cannot make out their own hand, they go toward the place where a voice is heard.""That is right, Yajnavalkya."

4.3.6 "When the sun has set, the moon has set, the fire has gone out, and speech has fallen silent, Yajnavalkya, what light does this person have?""The Self becomes their light.With the Self as their light, they sit, go about, do their work, and return."

4.3.7 "Which is the Self?""The person made of awareness among the vital powers, the light inside the heart.Remaining the same, this person moves through both worlds. They seem to think and seem to move about.In dreams, they pass beyond this world, the forms of death.

4.3.8 "When this person is born and enters a body, they become connected with evils.When they leave it and die, they leave the evils behind.

4.3.9 "This person has two places:this place and the place in the other world.The third is the place of dreams, at their meeting point.Standing at this meeting point, they see both places, this one and the place in the other world.Whatever access they have to the place in the other world,they take that route and see both evils and joys.When they fall asleep, they take material from this world that contains everything, take it apart themselves, build it up themselves, and sleep by their own brightness, their own light.Here this person becomes their own light.

4.3.10 "There are no chariots there, no teams for chariots, and no roads.But they create chariots, teams for chariots, and roads.There are no joys, pleasures, or delights there.But they create joys, pleasures, and delights.There are no pools, lotus ponds, or rivers there.But they create pools, lotus ponds, and rivers.For they are the maker.

4.3.11 "There are these verses:'After putting the body to sleep, the one who does not sleep looks on those who sleep.Taking his light, he returns to his place: the golden person, the lone swan.

4.3.12 'Guarding the lower nest with breath, the immortal one moves outside the nest.The immortal one goes wherever he wishes: the golden person, the lone swan.

4.3.13 'Moving up and down within dreams, the god creates many forms,as though enjoying himself with women, laughing, or seeing frightening things.

4.3.14 'People see his playground, but no one sees him.'"People say that one should not wake him suddenly.For someone whom this person does not return to is hard to heal.Others say this is only his waking state,because the things he sees awake are the things he sees asleep.Here this person becomes their own light.""Sir, I give you a thousand cows.Tell me more about liberation."

4.3.15 "After enjoying themselves and moving about in this state of calm, after merely seeing good and evil, this person runs back along the same route to the same place, to dreaming.Whatever they see there does not follow them.For this person is unattached.""That is right, Yajnavalkya.Sir, I give you a thousand cows.Tell me more about liberation."

4.3.16 "After enjoying themselves and moving about in this dream, after merely seeing good and evil, this person runs back along the same route to the same place, to waking.Whatever they see there does not follow them.For this person is unattached.""That is right, Yajnavalkya.Sir, I give you a thousand cows.Tell me more about liberation."

4.3.17 "After enjoying themselves and moving about in this waking state, after merely seeing good and evil, this person runs back along the same route to the same place, to dreaming.

4.3.18 "As a great fish moves between the two banks of a river, this one and the other,this person moves between these two states, dreaming and waking.

4.3.19 "As a hawk or an eagle grows tired after flying about in the sky, folds its wings, and heads for its resting place,this person runs toward that statewhere, asleep, they desire nothing and see no dream.

4.3.20 "These channels called Hita are as fine as a hair split into a thousand parts.They are filled with white, blue, tawny, green, and red fluid.When people seem to kill or overpower this person, when an elephant seems to chase them, or they seem to fall into a pit,they imagine through ignorance the same frightening things they see while awake.But when they think, 'I am like a god, like a king; I myself am all this,'that is their highest world.

4.3.21 "This is their form beyond desire, free from evil and fear.As a man held close by a woman he loves knows nothing outside or inside,this person, held close by the knowing Self, knows nothing outside or inside.This is their form in which all desires are fulfilled, in which the Self is their desire, in which there is no desire. It is beyond sorrow.

4.3.22 "Here a father is no father, a mother no mother, worlds no worlds, gods no gods, and Vedas no Vedas.Here a thief is no thief, a murderer no murderer, a Chandala no Chandala, a Paulkasa no Paulkasa, a renunciant no renunciant, and an ascetic no ascetic.Good does not follow this person, and evil does not follow them.For then they have crossed beyond all the sorrows of the heart.

4.3.23 "When they do not see, they are still seeing, although they do not see.The seer's seeing cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could see.

4.3.24 "When they do not smell, they are still smelling, although they do not smell.The smeller's smelling cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could smell.

4.3.25 "When they do not taste, they are still tasting, although they do not taste.The taster's tasting cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could taste.

4.3.26 "When they do not speak, they are still speaking, although they do not speak.The speaker's speaking cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could speak of.

4.3.27 "When they do not hear, they are still hearing, although they do not hear.The hearer's hearing cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could hear.

4.3.28 "When they do not think, they are still thinking, although they do not think.The thinker's thinking cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could think of.

4.3.29 "When they do not touch, they are still touching, although they do not touch.The one who touches cannot lose the power of touch, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could touch.

4.3.30 "When they do not know, they are still knowing, although they do not know.The knower's knowing cannot be lost, because it cannot be destroyed.But there is no second thing, separate and distinct from them, that they could know.

4.3.31 "Where there seems to be something else, one may see something else, smell something else, taste something else, speak of something else, hear something else, think of something else, touch something else, or know something else.

4.3.32 "The seer becomes water: one, without a second.This is the world of Brahman, Your Majesty."Yajnavalkya taught him in this way."This is this person's highest goal.This is their highest success.This is their highest world.This is their highest joy.Other beings live on just a portion of this joy.

4.3.33 "Someone who is successful and wealthy among human beings, who rules others, and who has the fullest supply of all human pleasures has the highest human joy.A hundred human joys make one joy of the ancestors who have won their worlds.A hundred joys of the ancestors who have won their worlds make one joy in the world of the Gandharvas.A hundred joys in the world of the Gandharvas make one joy of the gods who became gods through their actions.A hundred joys of those gods make one joy of the gods by birth,and of a Vedic scholar who is blameless and not struck down by desire.A hundred joys of the gods by birth make one joy in the world of Prajapati,and of a Vedic scholar who is blameless and not struck down by desire.A hundred joys in the world of Prajapati make one joy in the world of Brahman,and of a Vedic scholar who is blameless and not struck down by desire.This is the highest joy.This is the world of Brahman, Your Majesty."That is what Yajnavalkya said."Sir, I give you a thousand cows.Tell me more about liberation."At this Yajnavalkya became afraid: "This intelligent king has blocked every way out for me."

4.3.34 "After enjoying themselves and moving about in this dream state, after merely seeing good and evil, this person runs back along the same route to the same place, to waking.

4.3.35 "As a heavily loaded cart moves along creaking, this embodied self moves along creaking, ridden by the knowing Self,when the person begins to breathe upward.

4.3.36 "When someone becomes weak, through old age or illness,just as a mango, an udumbara fig, or a peepal fig comes free of its stem,this person comes free of these limbs and runs back along the same route to the same place, to breath itself.

4.3.37 "As guards, officials, charioteers, and village heads prepare food, drink, and lodging for an approaching king, saying, 'He is coming! He is arriving!'all beings prepare for someone who knows this, saying, 'Brahman is coming! It is arriving!'

4.3.38 "As guards, officials, charioteers, and village heads gather around a king who is about to leave,all the vital powers gather around this self at the end of life,when the person begins to breathe upward."