Listen, and I shall recount the sacred wisdom revealed in the Upanishad. It is said that whoever truly knows what is eldest and best becomes himself eldest and best. Among all, breath (prāṇa) is indeed both the eldest and the best. Likewise, whoever knows what is most excellent becomes most excellent among his own; and it is speech (vāk) that is truly most excellent. Whoever understands what is the foundation stands firm in this world and the next; and it is the eye that is truly the foundation. Whoever knows what is prosperity, to him desires—both divine and human—come; and it is the ear that is truly prosperity. Whoever understands what is the abode becomes the abode for his own; and it is the mind that is truly the abode. Once, the vital powers within the body—breath, speech, eye, ear, and mind—gathered together, each vying for supremacy, each proclaiming, “I am superior, I am superior!” Seeking to resolve their dispute, they approached their father, Prajapati, and asked, “Revered Sir, which of us is the best?” Prajapati replied, “The one whose departure makes the body appear most wretched—that one is the best among you.” Speech departed first, and for a year she remained away. Upon her return, she asked, “How did you manage to live without me?” The others replied, “Just as people are mute, not speaking, yet breathing with breath, seeing with the eyes, hearing with the ears, thinking with the mind—so it was.” And then speech returned to her place. Next, the eye departed for a year. When she returned, she asked, “How did you manage to live without me?” The answer was, “Just as people are blind, not seeing, yet breathing with breath, speaking with speech, hearing with the ears, thinking with the mind—so it was.” And the eye returned to her place. Then, the ear departed for a year. Upon her return, she asked, “How did you manage to live without me?” They replied, “Just as people are deaf, not hearing, yet breathing with breath, speaking with speech, seeing with the eyes, thinking with the mind—so it was.” And the ear returned. The mind, too, departed for a year. When she returned, she asked, “How did you manage to live without me?” They replied, “Just as children are mindless, yet breathing with breath, speaking with speech, seeing with the eyes, hearing with the ears—so it was.” And the mind returned to her place. Finally, breath prepared to depart. The moment breath made ready to leave, just as a fine horse pulls up the pegs to which it is tied, so breath began to draw up the other powers with it. Alarmed, the others pleaded, “Revered one, stay! You are the best among us. Do not depart.” Then speech said, “That which makes me most excellent, you are that most excellent.” The eye said, “That which makes me foundation, you are that foundation.” The ear said, “That which makes me prosperity, you are that prosperity.” The mind said, “That which makes me abode, you are that abode.” Thus, they do not speak of speech, eyes, ears, or mind as separate; they speak only of breaths, for breath truly becomes all these. Then breath asked, “What will be my food?” The answer came: “Whatever is here, from dogs to birds, is your food.” For breath, all that exists is food, and the mind’s very name is directly perceived—nothing is without food. Breath asked, “What will be my clothing?” The answer was, “Water.” Thus, those who are hungry cover themselves with water; water is truly clothing, and one becomes unclothed without it. Satyakama Jabala once told Goshruti Vaigyrapadya, “Even if one were to speak this knowledge to a dried-up stump, its branches would indeed sprout leaves.” Furthermore, if one desires great achievement, after undertaking the proper vow on the new moon, he should, on the night of the full moon, churn together all medicinal herbs with curd and honey, and, after offering clarified butter in the fire with the invocation, “To the eldest, to the best, svāhā,” pour the residue into the fire. Similar offerings are made to Vasiṣṭha, to Establishment, to Prosperity, and to Abode, each with their own invocations and offerings. After rinsing his hands, he places the churned mixture in his cupped hands and recites, “O Amu, your name is Amu, for all this belongs to you. You are the eldest, the best, the ruler and king. May you grant me seniority, excellence, sovereignty, and rulership. May I alone attain all this.” Then, with further recitation—choosing the radiance of Savitṛ, partaking of the food of the deity, the best and essence of all, and quickly gaining fortune—he drinks it all. Having cleansed himself, he sits behind the fire, either on a wooden bowl, a skin, or the bare ground, and remains silent. If he sees a woman, it is to be understood that the ritual has succeeded. There is a verse: When, in rituals for desire, women appear in dreams and prosperity is seen, one should know that in that dream-vision, success has occurred. On another occasion, when a seeker came to the assembly of the Pañcālas, Pravāhaṇa Jaivali asked him, “Did your father instruct you as a student?” He replied, “Yes, revered sir.” The king asked, “Do you know where beings go from here?” He replied, “No, revered sir.” “Do you know how they return again?” “No, revered sir.” “Do you know the divergence of the paths, the path of the gods and the path of the ancestors?” “No, revered sir.” “Do you know why that world is not filled?” “No, revered sir.” “Do you know how, at the fifth offering, water assumes the form of a person?” “No, revered sir.” The king then asked, “After being instructed, what did you say?” The seeker replied, “How can one who does not know these things, even if instructed, speak about them?” He went to his father and said, “You did not instruct me, revered sir, though you said you did. A royal relative asked me five questions, and I could not answer even one.” His father replied, “Just as you did not answer, so I do not know even one of them. If I knew, how could I not tell you?” So Gautama, the father, went to the king. Upon arrival, he was honored. In the morning, after sharing a meal, Udaya said, “Choose a boon of human wealth, Gautama.” Gautama replied, “Let the human wealth remain yours, king. Tell me only what you spoke to the prince at the end.” The king became troubled and said, “Let him stay for a long time.” He continued, “Just as you did not answer, Gautama, so I will not answer. Before you, this knowledge did not go to the Brahmins; therefore, in all worlds, the rule belonged to the Kṣatriyas.” Yet, he began to teach him. He said, “That world, Gautama, is indeed fire; its fuel is the sun, its rays are smoke, the day is its flame, the moon its coals, and the stars its sparks. In this fire, the gods offer faith, and from that offering, King Soma is produced. “The rain-cloud, Gautama, is indeed fire; its fuel is the wind, the cloud is smoke, lightning is its flame, thunder is its coals, and the showers are its sparks. In this fire, the gods offer King Soma, and from that offering, rain is produced. “The earth, Gautama, is indeed fire; its fuel is the year, space is smoke, night is its flame, the directions are its coals, and the intermediate directions are its sparks. Into this very fire, the gods offer rain, and from that oblation, food arises. “Indeed, Gautama, man is a fire; his speech is the fuel, breath is the smoke, tongue is the flame, eyes are the coals, ears are the sparks. Into this fire, the gods offer food, and from that oblation, semen arises. “Indeed, Gautama, woman is a fire; her womb is the fuel, what is spoken to her is the smoke, the vulva is the flame, what she does within is the coals, and pleasure is the sparks.” Thus did the sages reveal the mysteries of life, breath, sacrifice, and creation, passing on their wisdom from teacher to student, so that the seeker may understand the unity of all and the subtle ways in which the divine manifests in the world.