याज्ञवल्क्येति ह उवाच यद् इदम् अन्तरिक्षम् अनारम्बणम् इव केन आक्रमेण यजमानः स्वर्गम् लोकम् आक्रमते इति ब्रह्मणर्त्विजा मनसा चन्द्रेण मनः वै यज्ञस्य ब्रह्मा तद् यद् इदं मनः सः असौ चन्द्रः सः ब्रह्मा सः मुक्तिः सा अतिमुक्तिः इति अतिमोक्षाः अथ संपदः
yājñavalkyeti ha uvāca yad idam antarikṣam anārambaṇam iva kena ākrameṇa yajamānaḥ svargam lokam ākramate iti brahmaṇartvijā manasā candreṇa manaḥ vai yajñasya brahmā tad yad idaṃ manaḥ saḥ asau candraḥ saḥ brahmā saḥ muktiḥ sā atimuktiḥ iti atimokṣāḥ atha saṃpadaḥ
"Yājñavalkya," he said, "the mid-region is as it were without support: by what ascent does the sacrificer ascend to the heavenly world?" — "By the brahman priest, by the mind, by the moon: the mind is the brahman of the sacrifice. This mind is that moon; it is the brahman, it is liberation, it is complete liberation." These are the liberations; now the attainments.
3b8417309c75 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:58:45 AM UTC
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The fourth question changes the genre: not "how to break free" but "by what to ascend": space is "as it were without support" (anārambaṇam iva) — where is the ladder to the heavenly world? The answer is the fourth priest, the silent brahman: his organ is the mind, and the mind is the moon (the old pair, 1.3.16). The mind is a ladder without rails: where the body has nothing to lean on, the ascent is made by thought; the moon is the heavenly rung of that ascent.
The four priests are gathered: speech, eye, breath, mind — fire, sun, wind, moon. The sacrifice turns out to be built into the universe by all its servants; Aśvala's answer is complete: the rite saves the one who knows by what it is performed. "These are the liberations; now the attainments" — the remark turns the conversation from qualitative answers to countable ones.