Aitareya-Aranyaka: Sixth Adhyâya

1. Let the women go back to their place.

2. Who is he whom^[97] we meditate on as the Self? Which^[98] is the Self?

3. That by which we see (form), that by which we hear (sound), that by which we perceive smells, that by which we utter speech, that by which we distinguish sweet and not sweet, (1) and what comes from the heart and the mind, namely, perception, command, understanding, knowledge, wisdom, seeing, holding, thinking, considering, readiness (or suffering), remembering, conceiving, willing, breathing, loving, desiring?

4. No, all these are various names only of knowledge (the true Self). (2)

5. And that Self, consisting of (knowledge), is Brahman (m.)^[99], it is Indra, it is Pragâpati^[100]. All these Devas, these five great elements, earth, air, ether, water, fire, these and those which are, as it were, small and mixed^[101], and seeds of this kind and that kind, born from eggs, born from the womb, born from heat, born from germs^[102], horses, cows, men, elephants, and whatsoever breathes, whether walking or flying, and what is immoveable—all that is led (produced) by knowledge (the Self).

6. It rests on knowledge (the Self). The world is led (produced) by knowledge (the Self). Knowledge is its cause^[103].

7. Knowledge is Brahman. (3)

8. He (Vamadeva), having by this conscious self stepped forth from this world, and having obtained all desires in that heavenly world, became immortal, yea, he became immortal. Thus it is, Om. (4)