For the Sake of the Self

It is not for the love of the husband, Maitreyī, that a husband is dear, he said. It is for the love of the Self that a husband is dear. It is not for the love of the wife that a wife is dear, but for the love of the Self. It is not for the love of sons that sons are dear, but for the love of the Self. It is not for the love of wealth that wealth is dear, nor for the love of cattle that cattle are dear, but for the love of the Self. It is not for its own sake that the power of the priest is dear, or the power of the king, but for the love of the Self. It is not for their own sake that the worlds are dear, or the gods, or the Vedas, or all beings, but for the love of the Self. It is not for its own sake that anything at all is dear, Maitreyī. It is for the love of the Self that all is dear.

The Self, Maitreyī, is what one must see, must hear of, must reflect on and meditate on. When the Self has been seen and heard of, reflected on and known, then all this is known.

Then Yājñavalkya told her that whatever a man takes to be apart from the Self turns away from him. He said: The power of the priest forsakes anyone who takes it to be something apart from the Self. The power of the king forsakes anyone who takes it to be something apart from the Self. So do the worlds, so do the gods, so do the Vedas, so do all beings; everything forsakes anyone who takes anything to be apart from the Self. This power of the priest, this power of the king, these worlds, these gods, these Vedas, these beings, all of this is the Self.