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IV ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, 8.
for, having fire alone for his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns.'
5. Ganaka Vaideha said: 'When the sun has set, O Yâgñavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire is gone out, what is then the light of man?'
Yagnavalkya replied: 'Sound indeed is his light; for, having sound alone for his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns. Therefore, O King, when one cannot see even one's own hand, yet when a sound is raised, one goes towards it.' Ganaka Vaideha said: 'So indeed it is, O Yâgñavalkya.'
6. Ganaka Vaideha said: 'When the sun has set, O Yâgñavalkya, and the moon has set, and the fire is gone out, and the sound hushed, what is then the light of man?'
Yagñavalkya said: 'The Self indeed is his light; for, having the Self alone as his light, man sits, moves about, does his work, and returns.'
1
7. Ganaka Vaideha said: 'Who is that Self?' Yagnavalkya replied: 'He who is within the heart, surrounded by the Prânas 1 (senses), the person of light, consisting of knowledge. He, remaining theiX same, wanders along the two worlds2, as if3 thinking, as if moving. During sleep (in dream) he transcends this world and all the forms of death (all that falls under the sway of death, all that is perishable).
8. 'On being born that person, assuming his body,
1 Sâmîpyalakshanâ saptamî, Dvivedaganga. See Brih. Up. IV,
4, 22.
2 In this world, while awake or dreaming; in the other wo ld, while in deep sleep.
The world thinks that he thinks, but in reality he does not, he only witnesses the acts of buddhi, or thought.
M 2
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