Listen, then, to the sacred tale as revealed in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, where the mysteries of the Self and the world of Brahman are unfolded. The Self is described as a bridge, a support holding together all the worlds, preventing their merging and dissolution. Nothing of day or night, neither old age nor death, nor sorrow, nor deeds—good or evil—can cross this bridge; all evils turn back from it. This is the world of Brahman, utterly free from evil. When one crosses this bridge, even if blind, one is no longer blind; if wounded, one is no longer wounded; if afflicted, one is no longer afflicted. Having crossed, one is manifest only as day, never as night, for the world of Brahman is ever shining and manifest. Those who seek this world of Brahman through brahmacharya—through chastity and disciplined living—this world belongs to them; they gain freedom of movement in all worlds, according to their will. If someone says, “Sacrifice is the way,” it is truly brahmacharya alone; for by brahmacharya, the knower attains that world. If they say, “Offering is the way,” again, it is brahmacharya alone; through brahmacharya, seeking, one finds the Self. What is called “sattrāyaṇa” is indeed celibacy; by celibacy alone, one attains protection for the Self. What is called “silence” is also celibacy; by celibacy alone, having known the Self, one contemplates. What is called “anāśakāyana” is celibacy, for the Self does not perish—whom one attains through celibacy. “Miti” is also celibacy. In the world of Brahman, there are two lakes: Ara and Nya. Beyond heaven is a third lake, Airam, belonging to Prajapati; there stands the Asvattha tree, the Soma pressing ground, the golden boundary. Those who, through celibacy, reach the lakes Ara and Nya in the world of Brahman, for them alone is the world of Brahman; they move freely in all worlds, as they desire. Now, the channels of the heart rest in the subtle body, colored reddish, white, blue, yellow, and red. The sun is reddish, white, blue, yellow, and red. Just as a great highway stretches between two villages, so do the rays of the sun traverse both worlds—this and that. From the sun, they return and pour into these channels, and from these channels, they return and pour into the sun. When one is completely tranquil and serene, one does not perceive dreams; at that time, one is poured into those channels, untouched by evil, filled with radiance. When one is led to a state of weakness, those nearby ask, “Do you know me? Do you know me?” He knows as long as he has not departed from the body. When he departs, he ascends upward by these very rays, carried with the sound “Om.” As swift as the mind, he goes to the sun. This is the gateway to the worlds: the path for the wise, the closure for the unwise. There is a verse: “A hundred and one are the channels of the heart; one rises up to the crown of the head. By ascending through it, one attains immortality; all the others serve for departure.” The Self—free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, without hunger or thirst, whose desires and intentions are true—is to be sought and understood. Whoever knows this Self attains all worlds and all desires, as Prajapati declared. Both gods and demons heard this teaching. They said, “Let us seek that Self, by knowing which one attains all worlds and desires.” Indra, chief of the gods, and Virocana, chief of the demons, approached Prajapati, each carrying fuel in hand, as students. They practiced celibacy for thirty-two years. Prajapati asked, “What do you seek?” They replied, “That Self which is free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, without hunger or thirst, whose desires and intentions are true. We seek this, as you have spoken.” Prajapati said, “That person who is seen in the eye—this is the Self. This is immortal, fearless, this is Brahman.” They asked, “O venerable one, that which is discerned in water and that which is discerned in a mirror—which is it?” He replied, “It is the same in all; it is discerned in all.” They looked at themselves in a water vessel and reported, “We see our entire self, from hair to nails, as a reflection.” Prajapati instructed them to adorn themselves, dress finely, decorate themselves, and look again. They did so, and saw their reflection adorned as they were. “This is the Self,” he said. “This is immortal, fearless, this is Brahman.” With peaceful hearts, they departed. Seeing them leave, Prajapati said, “Without realizing the Self, they are departing. Whichever god or demon holds this teaching, they will be defeated.” Virocana went to the demons and taught them: “Here, the Self should be honored and served. By honoring and serving the Self, one attains both worlds—this and that.” Thus, even today, those who give without faith or sacrifice are called demonic. The demons adorn the body of the departed with food, clothing, and ornaments, thinking by this they will conquer that world. Indra, however, saw a danger: “When this body is well adorned, one is well adorned. When purified, one is purified. But when blind, one is blind; when weary, one is weary; when injured, one is injured. With the destruction of this body, he perishes. I see no enjoyment here.” So Indra returned to Prajapati, carrying fuel in hand. Prajapati asked, “Maghavan, you have come back. What do you seek?” Indra explained his doubts. Prajapati agreed and told him to stay another thirty-two years. After this period, Prajapati said, “He who moves about, glorified in dream—this is the Self, immortal, fearless, Brahman.” Indra departed, but again saw a danger: “Even if this body is blind, he is not blind; if weary, he is not weary; he is not affected by the faults of the body. He is not slain by the death of the body, nor overcome by its weariness; only as if covered, as if knowing what is unpleasant, as if he weeps. I see no enjoyment here.” Indra returned again. Prajapati told him to stay another thirty-two years. After this, Prajapati said, “When one is wholly tranquil, not knowing dream—this is the Self, immortal, fearless, Brahman.” Indra departed, but saw another danger: “In this state, he does not know himself as ‘I am this’; nor do beings perish for him. I see no enjoyment here.” Indra returned again. Prajapati asked him to stay another five years. Thus, Indra lived as a student with Prajapati for a hundred years. Finally, Prajapati spoke: “Maghavan, this mortal body is seized by death. It is the seat of the immortal, bodiless Self. One who is embodied is subject to pleasure and pain; there is no escape from them. But for one who is bodiless, pleasure and pain do not touch him. The wind, cloud, lightning, and thunder are bodiless. Just as they arise from space, reach the highest light, and appear in their own form, so also does this serene one, arising from the body, reach the highest light and appear in his own form. He is the supreme person. There he moves about, eating, playing, rejoicing with women, with chariots, or with relatives, not remembering this body into which he was born. Just as a horse yoked to a chariot is driven, so is the vital breath yoked to this body. When the eye is merged into space, the person connected with the eye is for seeing. He who knows ‘I smell this’—that Self is for smelling, and the nose is for smelling. He who knows ‘I speak this’—that Self is for speaking, and speech is for speaking. He who knows ‘I hear this’—that Self is for hearing, and the ear is for hearing. He who knows ‘I think this’—that Self is for thinking, and the mind is his divine eye. By this divine eye, with the mind, he sees those desires and delights in the world of Brahman. The gods worship this Self. Therefore, all worlds and desires belong to them. Whoever knows this Self, following it, attains all worlds and all desires. Thus Prajapati spoke. From the dark, one takes refuge in the variegated; from the variegated, one takes refuge in the dark. Shaking off sin as a horse shakes off its hair, as the moon escapes Rahu’s grasp, the doer, having cast off the body, becomes established in his true Self and attains the world of Brahman. Space is the expanse of name and form. That which is between them is Brahman, the immortal, the Self of Prajapati. “I take refuge in the assembly and house of Prajapati. I become renowned among Brahmins, among kings, among people. I have attained the highest renown among the renowned. Let this renown not depart from me, let this moon not depart from me.” Thus is the sacred teaching, the journey of seeking and finding the immortal Self, the world of Brahman, as spoken in the Upaniṣad.