Bhashya
यस्य परमानन्दस्य मात्रा अवयवाः ब्रह्मादिभिर्मनुष्यप-र्यन्तैः भूतैः उपजीव्यन्ते, तदानन्दमात्राद्वारेण मात्रिणं पर-मानन्दम् अधिजिगमयिषन् आह, सैन्धवलवणशकलैरिव ल-वणशैलम् ।सः यः कश्चित् मनुष्याणां मध्ये, राद्धः सं-सिद्धः अविकलः समग्रअवयव इत्यर्थः, समृद्धः उपभोगो-पकरणसंपन्नः भवति ; किं च अन्येषां समानजातीयानाम्अधिपतिः स्वतन्त्रः पतिः, न माण्डलिकः ; सर्वैः समस्तैः,मानुष्यकैरिति दिव्यभोगोपकरणनिवृत्त्यर्थम्, मनुष्याणामेवएव उत्पत्तित एव ये देवाः, ते आजानदेवाः ; यश्च श्रोत्रियःअधीतवेदः, अवृजिनः वृजिनं पापम् तद्रहितः यथोक्तका-रीत्यर्थः, अकामहतः वीततृष्णः आजानदेवेभ्योऽर्वाक् याव-न्तो विषयाः तेषु— तस्य च एवंभूतस्य आजानदेवैः स-मान आनन्द इत्येतदन्वाकृष्यते च-शब्दात् ।तच्छतगुणीकृत-परिमाणः प्रजापतिलोके एक आनन्दो विराट्शरीरे ; तथातद्विज्ञानवान् श्रोत्रियः अधीतवेदश्च अवृजिन इत्यादि पूर्व-वत् ।तच्छतगुणीकृतपरिमाण एक आनन्दो ब्रह्मलोके हि-रण्यगर्भात्मनि ; यश्चेत्यादि पूर्ववदेव ।अतः परं गणितनि-वृत्तिः ; एष परम आनन्द इत्युक्तः, यस्य च परमानन्दस्यब्रह्मलोकाद्यानन्दा मात्राः, उदधेरिव विप्रुषः ।एवं शतगु-णोत्तरोत्तरवृद्ध्युपेता आनन्दाः यत्र एकतां यान्ति, यश्च श्रो-त्रियप्रत्यक्षः, अथ एष एव संप्रसादलक्षणः परम आनन्दः ;तत्र हि नान्यत्पश्यति नान्यच्छृणोति ; अतो भूमा, भूम-त्वादमृतः ; इतरे तद्विपरीताः ।अत्र च श्रोत्रियत्वावृजिनत्वेतुल्ये ; अकामहतत्वकृतो विशेषः आनन्दशतगुणवृद्धिहेतुः ;अत्र एतानि साधनानि श्रोत्रियत्वावृजिनत्वाकामहतत्वानितस्य तस्य आनन्दस्य प्राप्तौ अर्थादभिहितानि, यथा कर्मा-णि अग्निहोत्रादीनि देवानां देवत्वप्राप्तौ ; तत्र च श्रोत्रिय-त्वावृजिनत्वलक्षणे कर्मणी अधरभूमिष्वपि समाने इति नउत्तरानन्दप्राप्तिसाधने अभ्युपेयेते; अकामहतत्वं तु वैरा-ग्यतारतम्योपपत्तेः उत्तरोत्तरभूम्यानन्दप्राप्तिसाधनमित्यवग-म्यते ।स एष परमः आनन्दः वितृष्णश्रोत्रियप्रत्यक्षः अधि-गतः ।तथा च वेदव्यासः- 'यच्च कामसुखं लोके यच्चदिव्यं महत्सुखम् ।तृष्णाक्षयसुखस्यैते नार्हतः षोडशीं क-लाम्' इति ।एष ब्रह्मलोकः, हे सम्राट्- इति ह उवाचयाज्ञवल्क्यः ।सोऽहम् एवम् अनुशिष्टः भगवते तुभ्यम्सहस्रं ददामि गवाम्; अतः ऊर्ध्वं विमोक्षायैव ब्रूहि- इतिव्याख्यातमेतत् ।अत्र ह विमोक्षायेत्यस्मिन्वाक्ये, याज्ञ-वल्क्यः बिभयांचकार भीतवान्; याज्ञवल्क्यस्य भयकार-णमाह श्रुतिः- न याज्ञवल्क्यो वक्तृत्वसामर्थ्याभावाद्भी-तवान्, अज्ञानाद्वा; किं तर्हि मेधावी राजा सर्वेभ्यः, मामाम्, अन्तेभ्यः प्रश्ननिर्णयावसानेभ्यः, उदरौत्सीत् आवृ-णोत् अवरोधं कृतवानित्यर्थः; यद्यत् मया निर्णीतं प्रश्नरूपंविमोक्षार्थम्, तत्तत् एकदेशत्वेनैव कामप्रश्नस्य गृहीत्वा पुनःपुनः मां पर्यंनुयुङ्क्त एव, मेधावित्वात्- इत्येतद्वयका-रणम्- सर्वं मदीयं विज्ञानं कामप्रश्नव्याजेन उपादि-त्सतीति ॥
In plain words
Of that supreme bliss, beings from Brahmā down to the last human being live on nothing but its measured-out portions. So, wanting to lead Janaka toward the whole of that supreme bliss by way of one small portion of it, Yājñavalkya says: it's like knowing a whole mountain of salt through a few grains of it. Picture some man, anywhere among people, who has everything going for him -- whole, complete, missing nothing, every limb intact, richly supplied with every means of enjoyment. More than that: he rules others of his own kind in his own right, answering to no one, no mere local chieftain. And every one of those means is strictly human -- nothing divine about it. Now, purely by birth, whoever counts as a god counts as a 'god-by-birth.' And take a man who is learned in scripture, does no wrong -- acts exactly as he's taught -- and is untouched by desire, free of craving for anything the birth-gods themselves haven't already gone beyond: his happiness, the text implies through that little word 'and', equals theirs. Multiply that a hundred times over, and you get the single bliss of Prajāpati's world, the body called Virāj. The same holds for anyone who understands this and is equally learned and sinless. Multiply that a hundred times again, and you get the single bliss of the world of brahman, the person called Hiraṇyagarbha -- again, for anyone who matches that description. Beyond this point, the counting simply stops. This is called the supreme bliss itself -- the one of which the bliss of brahman's world and all the rest below it are mere portions, like drops flung off an ocean. So this whole series of blisses, each a hundred times the one before, finally arrives at a single point -- and the learned man knows this directly, for himself. This, and only this -- the bliss defined by deep, utter tranquility -- is the supreme bliss. There, a person sees nothing else, hears nothing else. That is why it is called the plenum, the sheer fullness; and being that fullness, it is deathless. Everything else is its opposite. Notice that being learned and being blameless stay exactly the same at every one of these levels -- what actually drives each hundredfold leap is the depth of one's freedom from desire. These three qualities are named, by implication, as what earns each level of bliss, the way rites like the fire-offering are named as what earns the gods their godhood. But since learning and blamelessness stay constant even at the lower levels, they can't be what unlocks the next one up. What does the work is dispassion itself, since dispassion clearly comes in degrees -- and that degree is what carries a person up from one level of bliss to the next. And this very supreme bliss is what the craving-free, learned man reaches and knows for himself. Vyāsa says the same: 'whatever pleasure desire gives in this world, and whatever vast pleasure heaven gives, neither is worth a sixteenth part of the pleasure that comes when craving simply ends.' 'This is the world of brahman, your majesty' -- so Yājñavalkya finished. 'Then, so taught, I give you, sir, a thousand cows; now speak to me only of what lies beyond, of liberation' -- that much has already been explained. And right here, at this very request about liberation, Yājñavalkya grew afraid. Scripture tells us exactly why: not because he couldn't find the words, and not from any ignorance. The real reason was that the king was too sharp for him -- he had cornered him at the end of every single answer. Every time Yājñavalkya settled a question about liberation, Janaka would grab hold of just one piece of it, treat it as if it were merely another question about desire, and press him again and again -- precisely because he was so intelligent. That's the whole reason, really: Janaka was quietly trying to draw out the whole of Yājñavalkya's knowledge, using the question about desire only as his cover.
Close to the Sanskrit
Of the supreme bliss whose measures, whose parts, beings from Brahmā down to human beings live on: wishing to bring him, by means of a mere portion of that bliss, to understand the possessor of the full measure, the supreme bliss, he says: like fragments of rock-salt [pointing to] a mountain of salt. He who is some man among men, prospered, accomplished, undeficient -- meaning: complete in every limb -- thriving, endowed with every means of enjoyment; moreover, an overlord of others of his own kind, an independent lord, not a mere feudatory; by all, by every human means -- said to exclude the means of divine enjoyment -- by birth alone, whoever are gods, they are the gods-by-birth; and whoever is learned in scripture, free of wrongdoing -- that is, free of that evil, one who acts exactly as enjoined -- unsmitten by desire, free of craving, for whatever objects lie short of those gods-by-birth: of such a man, his bliss is drawn in as equal to that of the gods-by-birth, by the word 'and'. That, made a hundredfold in measure, is the single bliss of Prajāpati's world, in the body called Virāj; likewise, one who knows this, learned in scripture and free of wrongdoing, and so on, as before. That, made a hundredfold in measure, is the single bliss of the world of brahman, in the person of Hiraṇyagarbha; and whoever [is such], and so on, exactly as before. Beyond this the counting ceases; this is called the supreme bliss, of which the blisses of the world of brahman and the rest are mere portions, like droplets of the ocean. Thus the blisses, endowed with successive hundredfold increase, arrive at a single unity where they converge -- and this is directly evident to the learned man; now, this alone, characterized by deep tranquil repose, is the supreme bliss; for there one sees nothing else, hears nothing else; hence it is the plenum, and being that fullness, deathless; the others are its opposite. Here, the two states of being learned and being sinless are equal [at every level]; the difference that causes the bliss's hundredfold increase is caused by the state of being unsmitten by desire alone. Here these means -- being learned, being sinless, being unsmitten by desire -- are stated, by implication, in connection with the attainment of each respective bliss, just as rites like the fire-oblation are stated in connection with the gods' attainment of godhood; and there, since the two qualities defined as learning and sinlessness are equal even in the lower levels, these two are not admitted as a means to attaining the higher bliss; but being unsmitten by desire, since a gradation of dispassion is established, is understood to be the means of attaining the bliss of each successively higher level. This same supreme bliss has been shown as attained, directly evident to the craving-free, learned man. And so says Vedavyāsa: 'whatever pleasure of desire there is in the world, and whatever great heavenly pleasure -- these do not equal a sixteenth part of the pleasure that comes from the cessation of craving.' 'This is the world of brahman, O sovereign' -- thus did Yājñavalkya say. 'So, thus instructed, I give to the venerable one a thousand cows; beyond this, speak only of liberation' -- this has [now] been explained. Here, at this sentence about liberation, Yājñavalkya became afraid. Scripture states the cause of his fear: it was not from any lack of the capacity to speak, nor from ignorance, that Yājñavalkya was afraid; rather, the intelligent king had checked him from every side, at the very conclusions that settled each question -- meaning, he had obstructed him. Whatever question about liberation he had settled, each time Janaka would seize just one part of it as though it were a question about desire, and press him again and again, precisely because of his own sharp intelligence -- this is the two-fold reason: that he was trying, under the pretext of a question about desire, to extract all of Yājñavalkya's own knowledge.