Yajnavalkya-Gargi-Samvada

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(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

 

Gargi, daughter of Vachuknu said: " I shall ask thee two questions.

Will you answer me, O venerable sage? "

 

Yajnavalkya said: " Ask, O Gargi. "

 

Gargi said: " O Yajnavalkya, that of which they say that is above the

heavens, beneath the earth, embracing heaven and earth, past, present

and future, tell me in what is it woven, like the warp and the woof. "

 

Yajnavalkya replied: " In ether or Akasa. "

 

Gargi said: " I bow to thee, O Yajnavalkya. Be prepared for the second

question, "

 

Yajnavalkya said: " Ask, O Gargi. "

 

Gargi said: " In what is the ether woven and rewoven like the warp and

the woof? "

 

Yajnavalkya replied: " O Gargi, in Brahman is the ether woven and

rewoven like the warp and the woof. Sages call this the Akshara (the

imperishable). It is neither coarse, nor subtle, neither short nor

long, neither red nor white. It is neither shadow nor darkness. It is

without ears, eyes, or mind, or breath, without speech, without

smell, without mouth. It has no within and no without. "

 

" By the command of this Indestructible Being, O Gargi, sun and moon,

heaven and earth, stand upheld in their places. By the command of

this Akshara, O Gargi, minutes, hours, days, nights, weeks, months,

seasons and years stand apart. "

 

" Whosoever, O Gargi, without knowing the Akshara, departs from this

world, becomes a miser. But he, O Gargi, who departs from this world,

knowing this Indestructible Being, is a true Brahman or liberated

sage. "

 

" That Brahman, O Gargi, although unseen, but He sees; although

unheard, but He hears; although unthought, but He thinks; although

unknown, but He knows. There is none that sees but He, there is none

that hears but He, there is none that thinks but He, there is none

that knows but He. In that Akshara, then, O Gargi, the ether is woven

and rewoven like the warp and the woof. "

 

On hearing these words of wisdom from the mouth of Yajnavalkya, Gargi

became silent.

 

(Source: Essence of Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda)