"Homage to thee, Yajnavalkya," said she. "for thou hast answered me this; make ready for the other."

"Ask, Gargi."

"Yajnavalkya," said she, "that which is above the heavens, which is below the earth, which is midway between the heavens and the earth, which they call What hath been, What is, and What shall be--in what is it woven and woofed?"

"Gargi," said he, "that which is above the heavens, which is below the earth, which is midway between the heavens and the earth, which they call What hath been, What is, and What shall be, is woven and woofed in the ether."

"And in what is the ether woven and woofed?"

"Gargi," said he, "that is what Brahmans call the Unfading; it is not gross, not fine, not short, not long, not red, not fluid, not shadow, not darkness, not wind, not ether, not clinging, without taste, without smell, without eye, without ear, without speech, without mind, without vital force, without breath, without mouth, without measure, without aught inward, without aught outward; it consumes nothing, none consumes it. At the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, sun and moon are held asunder; at the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, heaven and earth are held asunder; at the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, minutes, hours, days and nights, fortnights, months, seasons, and years are held asunder; at the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, flow the rivers, some eastward from the white mountains, some westward, each in its own way. At the behest of the Unfading, Gargi, men praise

givers, the Gods hang upon the sacrifice-giver, the Fathers upon the ladle. Indeed, Gargi, to him who makes oblation and sacrifice, and mortifies himself in this world for many thousands of years without knowing the Unfading, it comes to an end. Indeed, Gargi, he who departs from this world without knowing the Unfading is wretched. But he who departs from this world knowing the Unfading, Gargi, is the Brahman. Indeed, Gargi, the Unfading unseen sees, unheard hears, unthought thinks, uncomprehended comprehends. There is naught else than this which sees, naught else that hears, naught else that thinks, naught else that comprehends. In the Unfading, forsooth, Gargi, is the ether woven and woofed."

Footnotes

^72:1 Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, III. viii. 2-11.

IX. THE EVERLASTING NAY

Verily this great unborn Self it is that is compact of understanding amid the life-breaths, that lies in the ether within the heart, master of all, lord of all, ruler of all; He becomes not greater by a good deed nor less by an ill deed; He is king of all, ruler of born beings, guardian of born beings, the dyke holding asunder these worlds that they fall not one into another. Brahmans seek to know Him by reading the Veda, by sacrifice, by charity, by mortification. Knowing