Avatarika
परिसमाप्ता ब्रह्मविद्या अमृतत्वसाधनभूता, यां मैत्रेयी पृष्टवती भर्तारम् 'यदेव भगवानमृतत्वसाधनं वेद तदेव मे ब्रूहि' इति ।एतस्या ब्रह्मविद्यायाः स्तुत्यर्था इयमाख्यायिका आनीता ।तस्या आख्यायिकायाः संक्षेपतोऽर्थप्रकाशनीार्थावेतौ मन्त्रौ भवतः; एवं हि मन्त्रब्राह्मणाभ्यां स्तुतत्वात् अमृतत्वसर्वप्राप्तिसाधनत्वं ब्रह्मविद्यायाः प्रकटीकृतं राजमार्गमुपनीतं भवति- यथा आदित्यः उद्यन् शार्वरं तमोऽपनयतीति- तद्वत् ।अपि च एवं स्तुता ब्रह्मविद्या- या इन्द्ररक्षिता सा दुष्प्रापा देवैरपि; यस्मात् अश्विभ्यामपि देवभिषग्भ्याम् इन्द्ररक्षिता विद्या महता आयासेन प्राप्ता; ब्राह्मणस्य शिरश्छित्त्वा अश्व्यं शिरः प्रतिसंधाय, तस्मिन्निन्द्रेण छिन्ने पुनः स्वशिर एव प्रतिसंधाय, तेन ब्राह्मणस्य स्वशिरसैव उक्ता अशेषा ब्रह्मविद्या श्रुता; यस्मात् ततः परतरं किंचित्पुरुषार्थसाधनं न भूतं न भावि वा, कुत एव वर्तमानम्- इति नातः परा स्तुतिरस्ति ।अपि चैवं स्तूयते ब्रह्मविद्या- सर्वपुरुषार्थानां कर्म हि साधनमिति लोके प्रसिद्धम्; तच्च कर्म वित्तसाध्यम्, तेन आशापि नास्त्यमृतत्वस्य; तदिदममृतत्वं केवलया आत्म-
In plain words
This finishes the knowledge of brahman, the very means to immortality — the knowledge Maitreyī once asked her husband for: 'Whatever it is you know that leads to immortality, tell it to me, and nothing less.' The story of that request was brought into the text purely to praise this knowledge, and the two verses that follow exist just to draw out, briefly, what that story means. Because both the verse and the prose praise it this way, the fact that this knowledge is the means to immortality — to everything — is put out in the open, the way a truth becomes a public road once it is spoken plainly: the way the rising sun simply clears the night away. And there is more praise still. This knowledge is guarded by Indra, and so it is hard to win even for the gods — the two Aśvins, physicians though they were among the gods, only got it after real struggle: a Brahmin's head was cut off, a horse's head set in its place, and when Indra cut that one off too, the Brahmin's own head was set back on, and only then, through his own restored head, did he speak the whole of this knowledge for them to hear. Since nothing greater has ever served a human purpose, nothing greater ever will, and nothing greater could possibly exist now, no higher praise is even possible. And there is a further praise: everyone knows that ritual action is what gets you what you want in this world. But action depends on wealth — so through action there is not even the hope of immortality. This immortality comes only from knowledge of the Self itself—
Close to the Sanskrit
The knowledge of brahman, the means to immortality, is [now] completed — which Maitreyī had asked of her husband: 'Whatever means to immortality you know, venerable sir, tell that to me.' For the sake of praising this knowledge of brahman, this story was introduced. Of that story, these two mantras exist for the purpose of briefly revealing its meaning; for thus, because of being praised by both the mantra and the brāhmaṇa portions, the fact that the knowledge of brahman is the means to attaining immortality and everything is made manifest and brought onto the royal road — just as the rising sun dispels the darkness of night, so this. Moreover, the knowledge of brahman is praised thus: that which is guarded by Indra is hard to attain even for the gods; because even the two Aśvins, the divine physicians, obtained the knowledge guarded by Indra only with great effort — having cut off a Brahmin's head and attached a horse's head in its place, and, when that was cut off by Indra, having again attached his own head, by that same head alone the Brahmin then spoke, and they heard, the whole of the knowledge of brahman; because beyond that no higher means to a human goal has ever existed or will exist, so how could one exist now — therefore there is no praise higher than this. Moreover, the knowledge of brahman is praised thus: it is well-known in the world that action is the means to all human goals; but that action is accomplishable only by means of wealth, so there is not even hope of immortality through it; but this immortality is attained by knowledge of the Self alone—