SEVENTH BRAHMANA .

1. Then Uddalaka Aruni asked. 'Yagnavalkya,' he said, 'we dwelt among the Madras in the houses of Patankala Kapya, studying the sacrifice. His wife was possessed of a Gandharva, and we asked him: "Who art thou?" He answered: "I am Kabandha Atharvana." And he said to Patankala Kapya and to (us) students: "Dost thou know, Kapya, that thread by which this world and the other world, and all beings are strung together?" And Patankala Kapya replied: "I do not know it, Sir." He said again to Patankala Kapya and to (us) students: "Dost thou know, Kapya, that puller (ruler) within (antaryamin), who within pulls (rules) this world and the other world and all beings?" And Patankala Kapya replied: "I do not know it, Sir." He said again to Patankala Kapya and to (us) students: "He, O Kapya, who knows that thread and him who pulls (it) within, he knows Brahman, he knows the worlds, he knows the Devas, he knows the Vedas, he knows the Bhutas (creatures), he knows the Self, he knows everything." Thus did he (the Gandharva) say to them, and I know it. If thou, O Yagnavalkya, without knowing that string and the puller within, drivest away those Brahma-cows (the cows offered as a prize to him who best knows Brahman), thy head will fall off.'

Yagnavalkya said: 'O Gautama, I believe I know that thread and the puller within.'

The other said: 'Anybody may say, I know, I know. Tell what thou knowest.'

2. Yagnavalkya said: 'Vayu (air) is that thread, O Gautama. By air, as by a thread, O Gautama, this world and the other world, and all creatures are strung together. Therefore, O Gautama, people say of a dead person that his limbs have become unstrung; for by air, as by a thread, O Gautama, they were strung together.'

The other said: 'So it is, O Yagnavalkya. Tell now (who is) the puller within.'

3. Yagnavalkya said: 'He who dwells in the earth, and within the earth , whom the earth does not know, whose body the earth is, and who pulls (rules) the earth within, he is thy Self, the puller (ruler) within, the immortal.'

4. 'He who dwells in the water, and within the water, whom the water does not know, whose body the water is, and who pulls (rules) the water within, he is thy Self, the puller (ruler) within, the immortal.'

5. 'He who dwells in the fire, and within the fire, whom the fire does not know, whose body the fire is, and who pulls (rules) the fire within, he is thy Self, the puller (ruler) within, the immortal.'

6. 'He who dwells in the sky, and within the sky, whom the sky does not know, whose body the sky is, and who pulls (rules) the sky within, he is thy Self, the puller (ruler) within, the immortal.'