Isavasya OR Isa Upanisad
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chandogya Upanisad
Taittiriya Upanisad
Aitareya Upanisad
Kausitaki Upanisad
Kena Upanisad
Katha Upanisad
Svetasvatara Upanisad
The Mundaka Upanisad
Prasna Upanisad
Mandukya Upanisad
Maitri Upanisad
 
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad

Chapter Four

IV.1
1. Janaka of Videha sat to give audience. Yajnavalkya approached him. Janaka said to him, 'Yajnavalkya, why have you come? Are you wanting cattle, or subtle arguments?'
'Both, your majesty,' he' said.

2. 'Let us hear what someone has told you.'
Jitvan Sailini told me that speech is brahman.'
'Sailini says what anyone would say who had a mother, a father and a teacher to teach him, when he says that speech is brahman: for what would anyone have who could not speak? But did he tell you its dwelling and support?'
'He did not.'
'Then that is a one-footed brahman, your majesty.'
'So you tell us, Yajnavalkya.'
'Speech itself is its dwelling, space is its support. One should worship it as knowledge (prajna).'
'What is the nature of this knowledge?'
'Speech itself, your majesty,' he said. 'By speech, your majesty, a friend is known (pra-jna-). The Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, the hymns of the Atharvans and Angirases, history, legend, science, the Upanisads, verses, sutras, explanatory passages, expositions, sacrifice, offering, food, drink, this world, the other world, and all beings are known by speech, your majesty: speech, your majesty, is indeed the supreme brahman. The one who knows this, and worships it as such, speech does not desert him; all beings flock to him; and becoming a god he goes to the gods.'
'I give you a thousand cows, with a bull like an elephant,' said Janaka of Videha.
Yajnavalkya said, 'My father used to say that one should not accept gifts without having taught.

3. 'Let us hear what someone has told you.'
'Udanka Saulbayana told me that the breath is brahman.'
Saulbayana says what anyone would say who had a mother, a father and a teacher to teach him, when he says that the breath is brahman: for what would anyone have who could not breathe? But did he tell you its dwelling and support?'
'He did not.'
'Then that is a one-footed brahman, your majesty.'
'So you tell us, Yajnavalkya.'
'The breath itself is its dwelling, space is its support. One should worship it as the dear.'
'What is its dearness?'
'The breath itself, your majesty,' he said. 'For love of the breath, your majesty, one offers sacrifice for someone for whom one should not offer sacrifice, one accepts gifts from someone from whom one should not accept gifts. For love of the breath, your majesty, in whatever direction one goes, there exists the fear of being killed. The breath, your majesty, is indeed the supreme brahman. The one who knows this, and worships it as such, the breath does not desert him; all beings flock to him; and becoming a god he goes to the gods.'
'I give you a thousand cows, with a bull like an elephant,' said Janaka of Videha.
Yajnavalkya said, 'My father used to say that one should not accept gifts without having taught.

4. 'Let us hear what someone has told you.'
'Barku Varsna told me that the eye is brahman.'
Varsna says what anyone would say who had a mother, a father and a teacher to teach him, when he says that the eye is brahman: for what would anyone have who could not see? But did he tell you its dwelling and support?'
'He did not.'
'Then that is a one-footed brahman, your majesty.'
'So you tell us, Yajnavalkya.'
'The eye itself is its dwelling, space is its support. One should worship it as truth.'
'What is its trueness?'
'The eye itself, your majesty,' he said. 'For when someone sees with the eye, your majesty, and they ask him, 'Have you seen it?', and he says, 'I have seen it,' that is the truth. The eye, your majesty, is indeed the supreme brahman. The one who knows this, and worships it as such, the eye does not desert him; all beings flock to him; and becoming a god he goes to the gods.'
'I give you a thousand cows, with a bull like an elephant,' said Janaka of Videha.
Yajnavalkya said, 'My father used to say that one should not accept gifts without having taught.



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