Brihadaranyaka: Yajnavalkya's Dialogues

With Maitreyi: On the Immortal Self

When Yajnavalkya decides to renounce the world, his wife Maitreyi asks for the knowledge that leads to immortality rather than wealth. He responds:

आत्मा वा अरे द्रष्टव्यः श्रोतव्यो मन्तव्यो निदिध्यासितव्यो मैत्रेयि।
आत्मनो वा अरे दर्शनेन श्रवणेन मत्या विज्ञानेनेदं सर्वं विदितम्।।

ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyo maitreyi ātmano vā are darśanena śravaṇena matyā vijñānenedaṁ sarvaṁ viditam

"Indeed, it is the Self, my dear, that should be seen, heard, reflected on, and meditated upon. By seeing, hearing, reflecting on, and knowing the Self, all this becomes known."

All knowledge is contained in Self-knowledge. By knowing the Self, everything is known, because the Self IS everything.

With Gargi: What is Reality Woven Upon?

The scholar Gargi challenges Yajnavalkya with a series of questions: "Upon what is water woven?" "Upon air." "Upon what is air woven?" And so on, until finally asking: "Upon what is the Imperishable woven?"

एतद्वै तदक्षरं गार्गि ब्राह्मणा अभिवदन्त्यदृष्टं द्रष्टृ...
एतस्मिन्नु खल्वक्षरे गार्ग्याकाश ओतश्च प्रोतश्च।।

etad vai tad akṣaraṁ gārgi brāhmaṇā abhivadanty adṛṣṭaṁ draṣṭṛ... etasminn u khalv akṣare gārgy ākāśa otaś ca protaś ca

"This, O Gargi, is the Imperishable which the wise declare: unseen, the seer; unheard, the hearer... Upon this Imperishable, space is woven."

Yajnavalkya warns: don't question beyond this point, or your head will shatter! The Imperishable is the final foundation of everything.

In the Beginning: I Am

आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीत्पुरुषविधः।
सोऽनुवीक्ष्य नान्यदात्मनोऽपश्यत्।
सोऽहमस्मीत्यग्रे व्याहरत्।

ātmaivedamagra āsīt puruṣavidhaḥ so 'nuvīkṣya nānyad ātmano 'paśyat so 'ham asmīty agre vyāharat

"In the beginning, this was Self alone, in the form of a Person. Looking around, he saw nothing other than himself. He first said: 'I am.'"

"I Am" (Aham Asmi) was the first word of creation. The sense of "I" comes from the original Self-awareness of Brahman. Your sense of "I" is a reflection of the cosmic "I Am."

Aham Brahmasmi, I Am Brahman (Mahavakya)

अहं ब्रह्मास्मि।

ahaṁ brahmāsmi

"I Am Brahman."

One of the four Mahavakyas. This is not ego-assertion but the recognition of what has always been true. The "I" that speaks is not the limited ego but the universal Self recognizing its own nature.

Fear Comes from the "Second"

द्वितीयाद्वै भयं भवति।

dvitīyād vai bhayaṁ bhavati

"Fear arises from a second."

When the Self perceived itself as alone, it felt fear. But then realized: "Of what am I afraid? There is nothing other than me." All fear comes from perceiving a "second", another, a threat. In non-duality, fear ends.

The Self is the Light

को अयमात्मेति। योऽयं विज्ञानमयः प्राणेषु हृद्यन्तर्ज्योतिः पुरुषः।

ko 'yam ātmeti yo 'yaṁ vijñānamayaḥ prāṇeṣu hṛdy antar-jyotiḥ puruṣaḥ

"What is this Self? It is the Person made of consciousness, the light within the heart among the life-breaths."

When asked "What is the Self?", Yajnavalkya answers: it is consciousness itself, the inner light. By this light, all else is known. Sun, moon, fire, speech, all are secondary lights. The Self is the primary light.