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The Upanishads - Mandhata Global

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son of Sulba say that the vital breath is Brahman; for<br />

what can be attained by a person who does not live? But<br />

did he tell you about its abode and support?"<br />

"No, he did not."<br />

"This Brahman is only one-footed, Your Majesty."<br />

"<strong>The</strong>n you tell us, O Yajnavalkya."<br />

"<strong>The</strong> vital breath is its abode and the akasa is its support.<br />

It should be meditated upon as dear." "What is that<br />

dearness, O Yajnavalkya?" "It is the vital breath, Your<br />

Majesty," said Yajnavalkya. "For the sake of that vital<br />

breath (life), O Emperor, one performs sacrifices for him<br />

for whom they should not be performed and accepts<br />

gifts from him from whom they should not be accepted;<br />

nay, for the sake of the vital breath, O Emperor, one<br />

may go to a quarter where one runs the risk of losing<br />

one‟s life. "<strong>The</strong> vital breath, O Emperor, is the Supreme<br />

Brahman. <strong>The</strong> vital breath never deserts him who,<br />

knowing what has just been said, meditates upon it; all<br />

beings eagerly approach him; and being a god, he attains<br />

the gods." "I give you a thousand cows with a bull as<br />

large as an elephant," said Emperor Janaka. Yajnavalkya<br />

replied: "My father was of the opinion that one should<br />

not accept gifts from a disciple without fully instructing<br />

him."<br />

4<br />

Yajnavalkya said: "Let me hear what anyone among<br />

your teachers may have told you.<br />

"Barku, the son of Vrishna, told me that the eye is<br />

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