यदेव ते कश्चिदब्रवीत्तच्छृणवामेत्यब्रवीन्मे गर्दभीविपीतो ' भारद्वाजः श्रोत्रं वै ब्रह्मेति यथा मातृमान्पितृमानाचार्यवान्ब्रूयात्तथा तद्भारद्वाजोऽब्रवीच्छ्रोत्रं वै ब्रह्मेत्यशृणवतो हि कि ँ स्यादित्यब्रवीत्तु ते तस्यायतनं प्रतिष्ठां न मेऽब्रवीदित्येकपाद्वा एतत्सम्राडिति स वै नो ब्रूहि याज्ञवल्क्य श्रोत्रमेवायतनमाकाशः प्रतिष्ठानन्त इत्येनदुपासीत कानन्तता याज्ञवल्क्य दिश एव सम्राडिति होवाच तस्माद्वै सम्राडपि यां कां च दिशं गच्छति नैवास्या अन्तङ्गच्छत्यनन्ता हि दिशो दिशो वै सम्राट् श्रोत्र ँ श्रोत्रं वै सम्रात्परमं ब्रह्म नैन ँ श्रोत्रं जहाति सर्वाण्येनं भूतान्यभिक्षरन्ति देवो भूत्वा देवानप्येति य एवं विद्वानेतदुपास्ते हस्त्यूषभ ँ सहस्रं ददामीति होवाच जनको वैदेहः स होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः पिता मेऽमन्यत नाननुशिष्य हरेतेति ॥ ५ ॥
In plain words
'Whatever else someone taught you, let's hear it.' Janaka says: 'My teacher, Gardabhivipita Bharadvaja, told me: the ear, truly, is Brahman. He said it the way a real teacher speaks -- one raised by a mother, a father, and a teacher in turn. Because really, what good would anything be to someone who couldn't hear?' 'But did he tell you its home and its foundation?' 'No, he didn't.' 'Then what you have, Your Majesty, is Brahman with only one foot.' 'Then you tell us, Yajnavalkya.' 'The ear itself is the home; space is the foundation; call it the Infinite, and meditate on it that way.' 'What makes it infinite?' 'The directions themselves, Your Majesty. Because no matter which direction you travel, you never reach its edge -- the directions never end. And the directions, Your Majesty, are the ear. The ear is the supreme Brahman. It never leaves the one who knows this; every being streams toward him; he becomes a god and joins the gods.' Janaka of Videha said, 'I'll give you a thousand cattle and a prize bull for that.' And Yajnavalkya said, 'My father always held: never accept a gift before you've taught the whole thing.'
Close to the Sanskrit
Whatever someone told you -- 'let us hear that' -- [Janaka replied]: 'Gardabhīvipīta Bhāradvāja told me -- 'the ear, indeed, is Brahman.' As one who has a mother, a father, and a teacher would speak, so did Bhāradvāja say -- 'the ear, indeed, is Brahman'; for what would there be for one who does not hear?' [Yājñavalkya asked:] 'But did he tell you its abode and support?' [Janaka:] 'He did not tell me that.' [Yājñavalkya:] 'Then this is indeed one-footed, O emperor.' [Janaka:] 'Then please tell us, Yājñavalkya.' [Yājñavalkya:] 'The ear alone is the abode; space is the support; call it the infinite; one should meditate upon it thus.' [Janaka:] 'What is its infinitude, Yājñavalkya?' [Yājñavalkya] said: 'The directions, indeed, O emperor.' 'Therefore, O emperor, whatever direction one goes, one never reaches its end at all -- for the directions are infinite; the directions, indeed, O emperor, are the ear. The ear, indeed, O emperor, is the supreme Brahman. The ear never leaves him; all beings flow toward him; having become a god, he attains the gods -- whoever, knowing thus, worships this.' Janaka of Videha said: 'I give a thousand cattle with a bull-elephant.' Yājñavalkya said: 'My father held that one should not accept a gift without having fully taught.'