DIALOGUE OF Y[=A]JNAVALKYA AND M[=A]ITREY[=I].[25]

Y[=a]jnavalkya had two wives, M[=a]itrey[=i] and K[=a]ty[=a]yani.  Now M[=a]itrey[=i] was versed in holy knowledge (brahma), but K[=a]ty[=a]yani had only such knowledge as women have.  But when Y[=a]jnavalkya was about to go away into the forest (to become a hermit), he said:  ’M[=a]itrey[=i], I am going away from this place.  Behold, I will make a settlement between thee and that K[=a]ty[=a]yani.’  Then said M[=a]itrey[=i]:  ’Lord, if this whole earth filled with wealth were mine, how then? should I be immortal by reason of this wealth?’ ‘Nay,’ said Y[=a]jnavalkya.  ’Even as is the life of the rich would be thy life; by reason of wealth one has no hope of immortality.’  Then said M[=a]itrey[=i]:  ’With what I cannot be immortal, what can I do with that? whatever my Lord knows even that tell me.’  And Y[=a]jnavalkya said:  ’Dear to me thou art, indeed, and fondly speakest.  Therefore I will explain to thee and do thou regard me as I explain.’  And he said:  ’Not for the husband’s sake is a husband dear, but for the ego’s sake is the husband dear.  Not for the wife’s sake is a wife dear; but for the ego’s sake is a wife dear; not for the son’s sake are sons dear, but for the ego’s sake are sons dear; not for wealth’s sake is wealth dear, but for the ego’s sake is wealth dear; not for the sake of the Brahman caste is the Brahman caste dear, but for the sake of the ego is the Brahman caste dear; not for the sake of the Warrior caste is the Warrior caste dear, but for love of the ego is the Warrior caste dear; not for the sake of the worlds are worlds dear, but for the sake of the ego are worlds dear; not for the sake of gods are gods dear, but for the ego’s sake are gods dear; not for the sake of bh[=u]ts (spirits) are bh[=u]ts dear, but for the ego’s sake are bhuts dear; not for the sake of anything is anything dear, but for love of one’s self (ego) is anything (everything) dear; the ego (self) must be seen, heard, apprehended, regarded, M[=a]itrey[=i], for with the seeing, hearing, apprehending, and regarding of the ego the All is known....  Even as smoke pours out of a fire lighted with damp kindling wood, even so out of the Great Being is blown out all that which is, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, S[=a]ma Veda, Atharva (Angiras) Veda, Stories, Tales, Sciences, Upanishads, food, drink, sacrifices; all creatures that exist are blown (breathed) out of this one (Great Spirit) alone.  As in the ocean all the waters have their meeting-place; as the skin is the meeting-place of all touches; the tongue, of all tastes; the nose, of all smells; the mind, of all precepts; the heart, of all knowledges; ... as salt cast into water is dissolved so that one cannot seize it, but wherever one tastes it is salty, so this Great Being, endless, limitless, is a mass of knowledge.  It arises out of the elements and then disappears in them.  After death there is