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1. Then Vidagdha Sâkalya asked him 2: 'How many gods are there, O Yâgñavalkya?' He replied with this very Nivid 3: 'As many as are mentioned in the Nivid of the hymn of praise addressed to the Visvedevas, viz. three and three hundred, three and three thousand 4.'

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Thirty-three,' he said.

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'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Six,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Three,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'Two,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'One and a half (adhyardha),' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, O Yâgñavalkya?'

'One,' he said.

'Yes,' he said, and asked: 'Who are these three and three hundred, three and three thousand?'

2. Yâgñavalkya replied: 'They are only the various powers of them, in reality there are only thirty-three gods 1.'

He asked: 'Who are those thirty-three?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Âdityas. They make thirty-one, and Indra and Pragâpati make the thirty-three 2.'

3. He asked: 'Who are the Vasus.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Agni (fire), Prithivî (earth), Vâyu (air), Antariksha (sky), Âditya (sun), Dyu (heaven), Kandramas (moon), the Nakshatras (stars), these are the Vasus, for in them all that dwells (this world) 3 rests; and therefore they are called Vasus.'

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4. He asked: 'Who are the Rudras?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'These ten vital breaths (prânas, the senses, i.e. the five gñânendriyas, and the five karmendriyas), and Âtman 1, as the eleventh. When they depart from this mortal body, they make us cry (rodayanti), and because they make us cry, they are called Rudras.'

5. He asked: 'Who are the Âdityas?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The twelve months of the year, and they are Âdityas, because they move along (yanti), taking up everything 2 (âdadânâh). Because they move along, taking up everything, therefore they are called Âdityas.'

6. He asked: 'And who is Indra, and who is Pragâpati?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Indra is thunder, Pragâpati is the sacrifice.'

He asked: 'And what is the thunder?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The thunderbolt.'

He asked: 'And what is the sacrifice?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'The (sacrificial) animals.'

7. He asked: 'Who are the six?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Agni (fire), Prithivî (earth), Vâyu (air), Antariksha (sky), Âditya (sun), Dyu (heaven), they are the six, for they are all 3 this, the six.'

8. He asked: 'Who are the three gods?'

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Yâgñavalkya replied: 'These three worlds, for in them all these gods exist.'

He asked: 'Who are the two gods?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Food and breath.'

He asked: 'Who is the one god and a half?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'He that blows.'

9. Here they say: 'How is it that he who blows like one only, should be called one and a half (adhyardha)?' And the answer is: 'Because, when the wind was blowing, everything grew (adhyardhnot).'

He asked: 'Who is the one god?'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'Breath (prâna), and he is Brahman (the Sûtrâtman), and they call him That (tyad).'

10. Sâkalya said 1: 'Whosoever knows that person (or god) whose dwelling (body) is the earth, whose sight (world) is fire 2, whose mind is light,--the principle

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of every (living) self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. This corporeal (material, earthy) person, "he is he." But tell me 1, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ 2 (deity)?'

Sâkalya replied: 'The Immortal 3.'

11. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person whose dwelling is love (a body capable of sensual love), whose sight is the heart, whose mind is light.--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. This love-made (loving) person, he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'The women 4.'

12. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person whose dwelling are the colours, whose sight is the eye, whose mind is light,--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. That person in the sun, "he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'The True 5.'

13. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person

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whose dwelling is ether, whose sight is the ear, whose mind is light,--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. The person who hears 1 and answers, "he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'Space.'

14. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person whose dwelling is darkness, whose sight is the heart, whose mind is light,--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. The shadowy 2 person, "he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'Death.'

15. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person whose dwelling are (bright) colours, whose sight is the eye, whose mind is light,--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. The person in the looking-glass, "he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'Vital breath' (asu).

16. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person whose dwelling is water, whose sight is the heart, whose mind is light,--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

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Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. The person in the water, "he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'Varuna.'

17. Sâkalya said: 'Whosoever knows that person whose dwelling is seed, whose sight is the heart, whose mind is light,--the principle of every self, he indeed is a teacher, O Yâgñavalkya.'

Yâgñavalkya replied: 'I know that person, the principle of every self, of whom thou speakest. The filial person, "he is he." But tell me, Sâkalya, who is his devatâ?'

Sâkalya replied: 'Pragâpati.'

18. Yâgñavalkya said: 'Sâkalya, did those Brâhmanas (who themselves shrank from the contest) make thee the victim 1?'

Sâkalya said: 'Yâgñavalkya, because thou hast decried the Brâhmanas of the Kuru-Pañkâlas, what 2 Brahman dost thou know?'

19. Yâgñavalkya said: 'I know the quarters with their deities and their abodes.'

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Sâkalya said: 'If thou knowest the quarters with their deities and their abodes,

20. 'Which is thy deity in the Eastern quarter?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'Âditya (the sun).'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does that Âditya abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the eye.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the eye abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the colours, for with the eye he sees the colours.'

Sâkalya said: 'And in what then do the colours abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the heart 1, for we know colours by the heart, for colours abide in the heart 2.'

Sâkalya said: 'So it is indeed, O Yâgñavalkya.'

21. Sâkalya said: 'Which is thy deity in the Southern quarter?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'Yama.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does that Yama abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the sacrifice.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the sacrifice abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the Dakshinâ (the gifts to be given to the priests).'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the Dakshinâ abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In Sraddhâ (faith), for if a man believes, then he gives Dakshinâ, and Dakshinâ truly abides in faith.'

Sâkalya said: 'And in what then does faith abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the heart, for by the heart faith knows, and therefore faith abides in the heart.'

Sâkalya said: 'So it is indeed, O Yâgñavalkya.'

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22. Sâkalya said: 'Which is thy deity in the Western quarter?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'Varuna.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does that Varuna abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the water.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the water abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the seed.'

Sâkalya said: 'And in what does the seed abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the heart. And therefore also they say of a son who is like his father, that he seems as if slipt from his heart, or made from his heart; for the seed abides in the heart.'

Sâkalya said: 'So it is indeed, O Yâgñavalkya.'

23. Sâkalya said: 'Which is thy deity in the Northern quarter?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'Soma.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does that Soma abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the Dîkshâ 1.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the Dîkshâ abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the True; and therefore they say to one who has performed the Dîkshâ, Speak what is true, for in the True indeed the Dîkshâ abides.'

Sâkalya said: 'And in what does the True abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the heart, for with the heart do we know what is true, and in the heart indeed the True abides.'

Sâkalya said: 'So it is indeed, O Yâgñavalkya.'

24. Sâkalya said: 'Which is thy deity in the zenith?'

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Yâgñavalkya said: 'Agni.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does that Agni abide.'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In speech.'

Sâkalya said: 'And in what does speech abide

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the heart.'

Sâkalya said: 'And in what does the heart abide?'

2 5. Yâgñavalkya said: 'O Ahallika 1, when you think the heart could be anywhere else away from us, if it were away from us, the dogs might eat it, or the birds tear it.'

26. Sâkalya said: 'And in what dost thou (thy body) and the Self (thy heart) abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the Prâna (breath).'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the Prâna abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: In the Apâna (down-breathing) 2.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the Apâna abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the Vyâna (back-breathing ) 3.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the Vyâna-abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the Udâna (the out-breathing) 4.'

Sâkalya said: 'In what does the Udâna abide?'

Yâgñavalkya said: 'In the Samâna 5. That Self

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[paragraph continues](âtman) is to be described by No, no 1! He is incomprehensible, for he cannot be (is not) comprehended; he is imperishable, for he cannot perish; he is unattached, for he does not attach himself; unfettered, he does not suffer, he does not fail.'

'These are the eight abodes (the earth, &c.), the eight worlds (fire, &c.), the eight gods (the immortal food, &c.), the eight persons (the corporeal, &c.) He who after dividing and uniting these persons 2, went beyond (the Samâna), that person, taught in the Upanishads, I now ask thee (to teach me). If thou shalt not explain him to me, thy head will fall.'

Sâkalya did not know him, and his head fell, nay, thieves took away his bones, mistaking them for something else.

27. Then Yâgñavalkya said: 'Reverend Brâhmanas, whosoever among you desires to do so, may now question me. Or question me, all of you. Or whosoever among you desires it, I shall question him, or I shall question all of you.

But those Brâhmanas durst not (say anything).

28. Then Yâgñavalkya questioned them with these Slokas:

1. 'As a mighty tree in the forest, so in truth is man, his hairs are the leaves, his outer skin is the bark.

2. 'From his skin flows forth blood, sap from the skin (of the tree); and thus from the wounded

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man 1 comes forth blood, as from a tree that is struck.

3. 'The lumps of his flesh are (in the tree) the layers of wood, the fibre is strong like the tendons 2 . The bones are the (hard) wood within, the marrow is made like the marrow of the tree.

4. 'But, while the tree, when felled, grows up again more young from the root, from what root, tell me, does a mortal grow up, after he has been felled by death?

5. 'Do not say, "from seed," for seed is produced from the living 3; but a tree, springing from a grain, clearly 4 rises again after death 5.

6. 'If a tree is pulled up with the root, it will not grow again; from what root then, tell me, does a mortal grow up, after he has been felled by death?

7. 'Once born, he is not born (again); for who should create him again 6?'

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'Brahman, who is knowledge and bliss, he is the principle, both to him who gives gifts 1, and also to him who stands firm, and knows.'