याज्ञवल्क्येति ह उवाच यत्र अस्य पुरुषस्य मृतस्य अग्निम् वाक् अप्येति वातम् प्राणश् चक्षुः आदित्यम् मनश् चन्द्रम् दिशः श्रोत्रं पृथिवीम् शरीरम् आकाशम् आत्मा ओषधीः लोमानि वनस्पतीन् केशाः अप्सु लोहितम् च रेतश् च निधीयते क्व अयम् तदा पुरुषः भवति इति आहर सौम्य हस्तम् आर्तभाग आवाम् एव एतस्य वेदिष्यावः न नाव् एतत् सजने इति तौ ह उत्क्रम्य मन्त्रयाम् चक्राते तौ ह यद् ऊचतुः कर्म ह एव तद् ऊचतुः अथ ह यत् प्रशंसतुः कर्म ह एव तत् प्रशशंसतुः पुण्यः वै पुण्येन कर्मणा भवति पापः पापेन इति ततः ह जारत्कारवः आर्तभागः उपरराम
yājñavalkyeti ha uvāca yatra asya puruṣasya mṛtasya agnim vāk apyeti vātam prāṇaś cakṣuḥ ādityam manaś candram diśaḥ śrotraṃ pṛthivīm śarīram ākāśam ātmā oṣadhīḥ lomāni vanaspatīn keśāḥ apsu lohitam ca retaś ca nidhīyate kva ayam tadā puruṣaḥ bhavati iti āhara saumya hastam ārtabhāga āvām eva etasya vediṣyāvaḥ na nāv etat sajane iti tau ha utkramya mantrayām cakrāte tau ha yad ūcatuḥ karma ha eva tad ūcatuḥ atha ha yat praśaṃsatuḥ karma ha eva tat praśaśaṃsatuḥ puṇyaḥ vai puṇyena karmaṇā bhavati pāpaḥ pāpena iti tataḥ ha jāratkāravaḥ ārtabhāgaḥ upararāma
"Yājñavalkya," he said, "when the speech of a dead man enters into fire, his breath into the wind, his eye into the sun, his mind into the moon, his hearing into the quarters, his body into the earth, his self into space, the down of his body into the herbs, his hair into the trees, and his blood and seed are laid in the waters — where is that man then?" — "Give me your hand, dear Ārtabhāga: this is for the two of us alone, not before people." They went aside and spoke together. And what they spoke of was karma; and what they praised was karma: by good work one becomes good, by evil work evil. And Jāratkārava Ārtabhāga fell silent.
f4a14f18a11e · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:01:54 AM UTC
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The culmination of the conversation — and one of the great moments of the Veda. Ārtabhāga lists the complete dissolution: every faculty has gone to its element (by the map of transitions in 1.3), the body piecemeal into earth, herbs, waters… kva ayaṁ tadā puruṣo bhavati — "where is the man then?" Everything has been given away — what is left, and where?
And Yājñavalkya, who has answered everything before everyone, for the first time lowers his voice: "give me your hand… not before people" (na nāv etat sajane). The two step aside — and the Upaniṣad reports only the upshot of the secret talk: karma haiva tad ūcatuḥ — "what they spoke of was karma": puṇyo vai puṇyena karmaṇā bhavati, pāpaḥ pāpena — "by good work one becomes good, by evil work evil". This is the first clear proclamation in Indian letters of the law of karma as the personal destiny beyond death: after the body's dissolution a man is where his work has carried him; he weighs exactly what his deeds weigh.
Why in a whisper? Not from the secrecy of an elite but from awe at the power of this knowledge: told to a crowd, it degenerates into either terror or fatalism; put into the hands, it makes one responsible. Karma is not a bookkeeping of retributions but the continuation of a man past the grave: you will not "get what your deeds deserve" — you are your deeds, until you hand them and yourself over to the One who is above karma. Ārtabhāga falls silent: after hearing such a thing there is nothing left to ask.