Yajnavalkya further explained to Maitreyi that the Brahmin does not accept the person who considers himself to be different from the Self. Similarly the kshatriya also refuses to accept the person who is different from the Self. The world also rejects the one who knows them as different from the Self. Likewise the gods, the beings, and rest all reject the people who consider themselves to be different from the Self. Thus, the Brahmin, the Kshatriya, these worlds, these gods, these beings and these are that Self. Yajnavalkya further tells Maitreyi that when different types of notes of a drum are beaten it is unable to perceive the sounds proceeding from it just like a person who cannot perceive himself. The sounds can be perceived only when the general note or sounds of the drum produced are grasped. Similarly, when a shell is blown, it is unable to perceive the sounds proceeding from it but on the perception of the shell the sound of a shell blown is perceived. It is the same in the case of veena. Smoke sparks are emitted from the fire kindled with wet fuel. In the same way the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharvangirasa, history (itihasa), mythology (purana), the arts (vidya), the Upanishads, verses (slokas), aphorisms (sutras), elucidations (anuvyakhyanas) and explanations (vyakhyanas) are all a part of breath of this infinite reality. All these have been extracted from the Supreme Self. Yajnavalkya while explaining Maitreyi tells her that like the goal of all the waters is to reach the ocean and merge with it, in the same way the goal of all kinds of touch is the skin, the one goal of all smells is the nostrils, the only purpose of all savours is the tongue, the one goal of all sounds is the ear, the aim of all deliberations is the mind, the goal of all actions is the hand, the organ of generation is the aim of all kinds of enjoyment, the excretory organ is the one goal of all excretions, the only purpose of walking is the feet and the organ of speech is the one goal of all the Vedas. Yajnavalkya then said that when a lump of salt is dropped into the water it immediately gets dissolved and then it cannot be separated. From whatever place a person might take water, it would have the taste of salt. In the same way this great, endless, infinite reality is pure intelligence alone. The Self just comes out as a separate entity from these elements. Along with their destruction this separate existence also gets destroyed. After it becomes one with the Self it does not have consciousness. Thus, knowledge is the ultimate reality. |