In the heart of all creation, shrouded within the highest golden sheath, dwells Brahman—pure, untouched, indivisible. This is the radiant Light of all lights, the supreme brilliance that those who truly know the Self come to behold. In that sublime realm, neither sun nor moon nor stars can cast their glow. Even the flash of lightning and the fire’s flame fall short. There, only Brahman shines, illuminating everything by its own radiance; it is by this light that all else is seen. Brahman is the immortal that was before all, remains behind all, stretches to the right and to the left, pervades below and above. Indeed, this entire universe is suffused with Brahman alone—the Supreme. To illustrate the mystery of the Self, the sages speak of two birds, close companions, perched upon the same tree. One bird partakes of the tree’s sweet fruits, savoring their taste; the other simply watches, serene and untouched. On this tree, the individual soul, sunk in ignorance, is troubled and confused. But when it comes to recognize the other—the Lord, the majestic witness—it beholds his greatness and is freed from sorrow. When the seer perceives the golden-hued Creator, the Lord, the very Person who is the source of Brahman, then, shaking off both virtue and vice, the wise one becomes stainless and attains supreme equality. He realizes that this Lord is the vital force shining in all beings. Knowing this, the wise do not indulge in endless debate. Instead, they delight in the Self, rejoice in the Self, and remain ever active—such are the highest among those who know Brahman. This Self is attained through truthfulness, austerity, right knowledge, and unwavering chastity. Within the body, pure and luminous, those ascetics whose faults have been exhausted behold this Self. For it is truth alone that prevails, not falsehood. By truth, the path is laid—the way of the gods—which the fulfilled sages tread to reach the supreme treasure of truth. This reality is vast and divine, its form beyond conception. Subtler than the subtlest, it shines forth. Though farther than the farthest, it is also very near, hidden in the cave of the heart, seen here and now. It cannot be grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by any of the senses, nor even by austerity or action. Only when the mind is purified by knowledge, through meditation, does one behold that indivisible being. This subtle Self must be realized by the mind, in which the life-force is fivefold. All the minds of beings are woven into this Self; when it is purified, the Self shines forth. Whatever world a pure-minded person contemplates, whatever desires he wishes, he attains that world and those desires. Therefore, one who seeks prosperity should worship the knower of the Self. The wise know that supreme abode of Brahman, where the whole universe is established, shining and pure. Those who worship the Person without desires transcend even this pure world. But whoever, thinking himself the doer, pursues objects of desire, is born again and again, chasing those desires in many places. For the one whose desires are fulfilled, whose self is established, all desires dissolve here itself. This Self is not attained by instruction, nor by intellect, nor by much hearing. It is gained only by the one whom the Self chooses; to that person, the Self reveals its true nature. It is not attained by one lacking strength, nor through carelessness, nor through improper austerity. But to those who strive with knowledge, the Self comes and enters the abode of Brahman. Those who have attained this—sages satisfied in knowledge, self-controlled, free from passion, and peaceful—having reached the all-pervading, enter into all with minds united. The ascetics, pure in mind and firmly established in the knowledge of Vedanta through the discipline of renunciation, at the end of their time, in the worlds of Brahman, become completely liberated and immortal. When the fifteen parts and all the gods, along with their presiding deities, have merged, then all actions and the knowledge-made self become one in the supreme, imperishable. Just as rivers, leaving behind their names and forms, disappear into the ocean, so too does the wise one, freed from name and form, attain the supreme, divine Person beyond all. Whoever truly knows that supreme Brahman becomes Brahman indeed. In his lineage, none are born ignorant of Brahman. He crosses over sorrow and evil and, freed from the knots of the heart, becomes immortal. This is the teaching: those who are active, learned in the scriptures, devoted to Brahman, and who themselves offer with faith to the one fire— to them alone should this knowledge of Brahman be taught, to those who have performed the sacred vow. This is the truth, as the sage Angiras declared in ancient times. It is not to be studied by those who have not undertaken the vow. Salutations to the supreme sages, salutations to the supreme sages.