Yagnavalkya:

 Dear to me have you always been, Maitreyi, and now you ask to learn of that truth which is nearest my heart.  Come, sit by me.  I will explain it to you.  Meditate on what I say.
 It is not for the sake of the husband, my beloved, that the husband is dear, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the wife, my beloved, that the wife is dear, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the children, my beloved, that the children are dear, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of wealth, my beloved, that wealth is dear, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the Brahmins, my beloved, that the Brahmins are held in reverence, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the Kshatriyas, my beloved, that the Kshatriyas are held in honor, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the higher worlds, my beloved, that the higher worlds are desired, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the gods, my beloved, that the gods are worshiped, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of the creatures, my beloved, that the creatures are prized, but for the sake of the Self.
 It is not for the sake of itself, my beloved, that anything whatever is esteemed, but for the sake of the Self.
 The Self, Maitreyi, is to be known.  Hear about it, reflect upon it, meditate upon it.  By knowing the Self, my beloved, through hearing, reflection, and meditation, one comes to know all things.
 Let the Brahmin ignore him who thinks that the Brahmin is different from the Self.
 Let the Kshatriya ignore him who thinks that the Kshatriya is different from the Self.
 Let the higher worlds ignore him who thinks that the higher worlds are different from the Self.
 Let the gods ignore him who thinks that the gods are different from the Self.
 Let all creatures ignore him who thinks that the creatures are different from the Self.

 Let all ignore him who thinks that anything whatever is different from the Self.

 The priest, the warrior, the higher worlds, the gods, the creatures; whatsoever things there be--these are the Self. - As, when the drum is beaten, its various particular notes are not heard apart from the whole, but in the total sound all its notes are heard; as, when the conch-shell is blown, its various particular notes are not heard apart from the whole, but in the total sound all its notes are heard; as, when the vina is played, its various particular notes are not heard apart from the whole, but in the total sound all its notes are heard-so, through the knowledge of the Self, Pure Consciousness, all things and beings are known.  There is no existence apart from the Self.

 As smoke and sparks arise from at lighted fire kindled with damp fuel, even so, Maitreyi, have been breathed forth from the Eternal all knowledge and all wisdom what we know as the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the rest.  They are the breath of the Eternal.

 As for water the one center is the ocean, as for touch the one center is the skin, as for smell the one center is the nose, as for taste the one center is the tongue, as for form the one center is the eyes, as for sound the one center is the ears as for thought the one center is the mind, as for divine wisdom the one center is the heart- -so for all beings the one center is the Self.

 As a lump of salt when thrown into water melts away and the lump cannot be taken out, but wherever we taste the water it is salty, even so, 0 Maitreyi, the individual self, dissolved, is the Eternal--pure consciousness, infinite and transcendent.  Individuality arises by identification of the Self, through ignorance, with the elements; and with the disappearance of consciousness of the many, in divine illumination, it disappears.  Where there is consciousness of the Self, individuality is no more.

 This it is, 0 my beloved, that I wanted to tell you.

Maitreyi:

"Where there is consciousness of the Self, individuality is no more": this that you say, my lord, confuses me.

Yagnavalkya:

My beloved, let nothing I have said confuse you.  But meditate well the truth that I have spoken.

 As long as there is duality, one sees the other, one hears the other, one smells the other, one speaks to the other, one thinks of the other, one knows the other; but when for the illumined self  the all is dissolved in the Self, who is there to be seen by whom, who is there to be smelt by whom, who is there to be heard by whom, who is there to be spoken to by whom, who is there to be thought of by whom, who is there to be known by whom?  Ah, Maitreyi, my beloved, the Consciousness which reveals all, by what shall it be revealed?  By --whom shall the Knower be known?  The Self is described as not this, not that.  It is incomprehensible, for it cannot be comprehended; undecaying, for it never decays; unattached, for it never attaches itself; unbound, for it is never bound.  By whom, 0 my beloved, shall the Knower be known?

 This it is that I teach you, 0 Maitreyi.  This is the truth of immortality. So saying, Yagnavalkya entered upon the path of renunciation.

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Yagnavalkya:

 The Self, having in wakefulness enjoyed the pleasures of sense, gone hither and thither, experienced good and evil, hastens back again to his dreams.

 As a large fish moves from one bank of a river to the other, so does the Self move between dreaming and waking.

 As a hawk or a falcon flying in the sky becomes tired, and stretching its wings comes back to its nest, so does the Self hasten to that state where, deep in sleep, he desires no more desires, and dreams no more dreams.

 Indeed, the Self, in its true nature, is free from craving, free from evil, free from fear.  As a man in the embrace of his loving wife knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within, so man in union with the Self knows nothing that is without, nothing that is within, for in that state all desires are satisfied.  The Self is his only desire; he is free from craving; he goes beyond sorrow.

 Then father is no father, mother is no mother; worlds disappear, gods disappear, scriptures disappear; the thief is no more, the murderer is no more, castes are no more; no more is there monk or hermit.  The Self is then untouched either by good or by evil, and the sorrows of the heart are turned into joy.

 The Self does not see, nor smell, nor taste, nor speak, nor hear, nor think, nor touch, nor know; for there is nothing separate from the self, there is no second.  Yet he can see, for sight and he are one; yet he can smell, for smelling and he are one; yet he can taste, for taste and he are one; yet he can speak, for speech and he are one; yet he can hear, for hearing and he are one; yet he can think, for thinking and he are one; yet he can touch, for touching and he are one; yet he can know, for knowing and he are one.  Eternal is the light of consciousness; immortal is the Self.

 When there is another, then one sees another, smells another ' tastes another, speaks to another, hears another, thinks of another, touches and knows another.

 Pure like crystal water is that Self, the only seer, the One without a second.  The Self is the kingdom of Brahmanman's highest goal, supreme treasure, greatest bliss.  Creatures who live within the bonds of ignorance experience but a small portion of this Infinite Being.

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Yagnavalkya:

 The Self, having in dreams enjoyed the pleasures of sense, gone hither and thither, experienced good and evil, hastens back to the state of waking from which he started.

 As a man passes from dream to wakefulness, so does be-pass at death from this life to the next.

 When, a man is about to die, the, subtle body, mounted by the intelligent Self, groans--as a heavily laden cart groans under its burden.

 When his body becomes thin through old age or disease, the dying man separates himself from his limbs, even as a mango or a fig or a banyan fruit separates itself from its stalk, and by the same way that he came he hastens to his new abode, and there assumes another body in which to begin a new life.

 When his body grows weak and he becomes apparently unconscious, the dying man gathers his senses about him and completely withdrawing their powers descends into his heart.  No more does he see form or color without.

 He neither sees, nor smells, nor tastes.  He does not speak, he does not hear.  He does not think, he does not know.  For all the organs, detaching themselves from his physical body, unite with his subtle body.  Then the point of his heart, where the nerves join, is lighted by the light of the Self, and by that light he departs either through the eye, or through the gate of the skull, or through some other aperture of the body.  When he thus departs, life departs; and when life departs, all the functions of the vital principle depart.  The Self remains conscious, and, conscious, the dying man goes to his abode.  The deeds of this life, and the impressions they leave behind, follow him.

 As a leech, having reached the end of a blade of grass, takes hold of another blade and draws itself to it, so the Self, having left this body behind it unconscious, takes hold of another body and draws himself to it.

 As a goldsmith, taking an old gold ornament, moulds it into another, newer and more beautiful, so the Self, having given up the body and left it unconscious, takes on a newer and better form, either that of the fathers, or that of the celestial singers, or that of the gods, or that of other beings, heavenly or earthly.

 The Self is verily Brahman.  Through ignorance it identifies itself with what is alien to it, and appears to consist of intellect, understanding, life, sight, hearing, earth, water, air, ether, fire, desire and the absence of desire, anger and the absence of anger, riotousness and the absence of  righteousness.  It appears to be all things-- now one, now another.

 As a man acts, so does he become.  A man of good deeds becomes good, a man of evil deeds becomes evil.  A man becomes pure through pure deeds, impure through impure deeds.

 As a man's desire is, so is his destiny.  For as his desire is, so is his will; as his will is, so is his deed; and as his deed is, so is his reward, whether good or bad.

A man acts according to the desires to which he clings.  After death he goes to the next world bearing in his mind the subtle impressions of his deeds; and after reaping there the harvest of his deeds, he returns again to this world of action.  Thus he who has desires continues subject to rebirth.

 But he in whom desire is stilled suffers no rebirth.  After death, having attained to the highest, desiring only the Self, he goes to no other world.  Realizing Brahman, he becomes Brahman.

 When all the desires which once entered into his heart have been driven out by divine knowledge, the mortal, attaining to Brahman, becomes immortal.

 As the slough of a snake lies cast off on an anthill, so lies the body of a man at death; while he, freed from the body, becomes one with the immortal Self, Brahman, the Light Eternal.

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