कस्मिन्नु त्वं चात्मा च प्रतिष्ठितौ स्थ इति ।प्राण इति ।कस्मिन्नु प्राणः प्रतिष्ठित इति ।अपान इति ।कस्मिन्न्वपानः प्रतिष्ठित इति ।व्यान इति ।कस्मिन्नु व्यानः प्रतिष्ठित इति ।उदान इति ।कस्मिन्नूदानः प्रतिष्ठित इति ।समान इति ।स एष नेति नेत्यात्मा ।अगृह्यो न हि गृह्यते ।अशीर्यो न हि शीर्यते ।असङ्गो न सज्यते ।असितो न व्यथते ।न रिष्यति ।एतान्यष्टावायतनान्यष्टौ लोका अद्द्. अष्टौ देवा अष्टौ पुरुषाः ।स यस्तान् पुरुषान्निरुह्य प्रत्युह्यात्यक्रामत्तं त्वौपनिषदं पुरुषं पृच्छामि ।तं चेन्मे न विवक्ष्यसि मूर्धा ते विपतिष्यतीति ।तं ह न मेने शाकल्यस् ।तस्य ह मूर्धा विपपात ।अपि हास्य परिमोषिणोऽस्थीन्यपजह्रुरन्यन्मन्यमानाः ॥बृह. ३,९.२६ ॥
In plain words
"And in what are thou and thy self founded?" "In the out-breath." "And in what is the out-breath founded?" "In the down-breath." "And in what is the down-breath founded?" "In the diffused breath." "And in what is the diffused breath founded?" "In the up-breath." "And in what is the up-breath founded?" "In the even breath. This Self is not this, not this. It is ungraspable, for it is not grasped; indestructible, for it is not destroyed; unattached, for it does not attach itself; unbound, it does not tremble and does not come to harm. These are the eight dwellings, the eight worlds, the eight gods and the eight persons. He who has drawn out those persons and drawn them back and passed beyond them — of him, the person of the secret doctrine, I ask thee. If thou dost not tell me of him, thy head shall fall off." And Śākalya did not know him; and his head fell off. Robbers also carried away his bones, taking them for something else.
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
शिष्यैर्नीयमानानि गृहान्प्रत्यपजह्रुः अपहृतवन्तः-- किं नि- मित्तम्- अन्यत् धनं नीयमानं मन्यमानाः । पूर्ववृत्ता ह्याख्यायिकेह सूचिता । अष्टाध्याय्यां किल शाकल्येन याज्ञवल्क्यस्य समानान्त एव संवादो निर्वृत्तः; तत्र याज्ञवल्क्येन शापो दत्तः-- 'पुरेऽतिथ्ये मरिष्यसि न तेऽस्थीनिचन गृहान्प्राप्स्यन्ति' इति 'स ह तथैव ममार; तस्य हाप्यन्यन्मन्यमानाः परिमोषिणोऽस्थीन्यपजह्रुः त- स्मान्नोपवादी स्यादुत ह्येवंवित्परो भवतीति' । सैषा आ- ख्यायिका आचारार्थं सूचिता विद्यास्तुतये च इह ॥
In plain words
Thieves snatched what the disciples were carrying home — mistaking it, of all things, for ordinary loot. Why bring this up? Because it echoes an older story. In the Aṣṭādhyāyī, they say, Śākalya and Yājñavalkya once had a dialogue that ended the same way — Yājñavalkya cursed him: you will die far from home, among strangers, and not even your bones will make it back. And he did die exactly that way; thieves, thinking his bones were something worth stealing, carried them off. So don't go around finding fault with what you don't understand — or the one who actually knows will get the better of you. That's the whole point of telling this story here: a lesson in conduct, and a tribute to real knowledge.
Close to the Sanskrit
They carried off, snatched away, what was being taken by the disciples toward the houses — for what reason? Thinking it to be some other wealth being carried. For a story that had occurred earlier is alluded to here. It is said that in the Aṣṭādhyāyī a dialogue took place between Śākalya and Yājñavalkya, ending in a similar way; there Yājñavalkya pronounced a curse: 'You will die abroad, among strangers, and not even your bones will reach home' — thus. He indeed died just so; and thieves, thinking them to be something else, carried off even his bones. Therefore one should not be a fault-finder, or else one who knows thus becomes superior. This story is alluded to here for the sake of [teaching] conduct, and also in praise of knowledge.