Yajnavalkya Kanda. Adhyaya 4, Brahmana 5. Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi, again
New to these pages?
Each mantra is given four ways: the Sanskrit in its Devanagari script, the same sounds in Roman letters, an English translation set in our own voice, and then the line once more in plain words, for a first and unhurried reading.
Not every passage is opened to the same depth. A few central mantras carry the full cross-school commentary, where the schools are set side by side. The rest are kept here whole and faithful, set in their place but not expounded, so the book stays entire and nothing is dropped for being thought minor.
Where the schools read a line differently, the difference is kept open. None is crowned and none is corrected. Each is met on its own terms, and where they contradict, the contradiction is left standing for you to sit with.
For the sake of the Self
He said: Not for the husband's sake is the husband dear, but for the sake of the Self the husband is dear. Not for the wife's sake is the wife dear, but for the sake of the Self the wife is dear. Not for the sons' sake are the sons dear, but for the sake of the Self the sons are dear. Not for wealth's sake is wealth dear, but for the sake of the Self wealth is dear. Not for the cattle's sake are the cattle dear, but for the sake of the Self the cattle are dear. Not for the Brahmin's sake is the Brahmin dear, but for the sake of the Self the Brahmin is dear. Not for the Kshatriya's sake is the Kshatriya dear, but for the sake of the Self the Kshatriya is dear. Not for the worlds' sake are the worlds dear, but for the sake of the Self the worlds are dear. Not for the gods' sake are the gods dear, but for the sake of the Self the gods are dear. Not for the Vedas' sake are the Vedas dear, but for the sake of the Self the Vedas are dear. Not for the creatures' sake are the creatures dear, but for the sake of the Self the creatures are dear. Not for the sake of all is all dear, but for the sake of the Self all is dear. The Self, Maitreyi, is what must be seen, what must be heard, what must be reflected upon, what must be deeply contemplated. When the Self is seen, heard, reflected upon, and known, then all this is known.
He said: A husband is not dear for the husband's own sake; he is dear for the sake of the Self. A wife is not dear for the wife's own sake; she is dear for the sake of the Self. And so it runs through sons, wealth, cattle, the Brahmin, the Kshatriya, the worlds, the gods, the Vedas, the creatures: none of these is loved for its own sake, but each is loved for the sake of the Self. So it is the Self that should be seen, heard, reflected upon, and deeply contemplated (sravana, manana, nididhyasana). When the Self has been realized in this way, everything is known, because the Self is the inmost reality of all.
In the commentaries
Sankara takes this as the heart of the teaching: every object of love is dear only because the Self, the dearest, shines through it, so the Self alone is to be realized through hearing, reflection, and deep meditation, and in knowing It all is known.