तद् एतद् ऋचाभ्युक्तम् एषः नित्यः महिमा ब्राह्मणस्य न कर्मणा वर्धते नो कनीयान् तस्यैव स्यात् पदवित् तम् विदित्वा न लिप्यते कर्मणा पापकेन इति तस्मात् एवंवित् शान्तः दान्तः उपरतः तितिक्षुः समाहितः भूत्वात्मन्य् एवात्मानं पश्यति सर्वम् आत्मानं पश्यति न एनम् पाप्मा तरति सर्वं पाप्मानं तरति न एनम् पाप्मा तपति सर्वं पाप्मानं तपति विपापः विरजः अविचिकित्सः ब्राह्मणः भवति एषः ब्रह्मलोकः संराट् एनम् प्रापितः असि इति ह उवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः सः अहम् भगवते विदेहान् ददामि माम् चापि सह दास्याय इति
tad etad ṛcābhyuktam eṣaḥ nityaḥ mahimā brāhmaṇasya na karmaṇā vardhate no kanīyān tasyaiva syāt padavit tam viditvā na lipyate karmaṇā pāpakena iti tasmāt evaṃvit śāntaḥ dāntaḥ uparataḥ titikṣuḥ samāhitaḥ bhūtvātmany evātmānaṃ paśyati sarvam ātmānaṃ paśyati na enam pāpmā tarati sarvaṃ pāpmānaṃ tarati na enam pāpmā tapati sarvaṃ pāpmānaṃ tapati vipāpaḥ virajaḥ avicikitsaḥ brāhmaṇaḥ bhavati eṣaḥ brahmalokaḥ saṃrāṭ enam prāpitaḥ asi iti ha uvāca yājñavalkyaḥ saḥ aham bhagavate videhān dadāmi mām cāpi saha dāsyāya iti
On this there is a Vedic verse: "Such is the eternal greatness of a brāhmaṇa: it does not grow by work nor become less. Let him be the knower of its path; having known it, one is not stained by evil work." Therefore one who knows thus is peaceful, restrained, withdrawn, patient, collected; in himself he sees the ātman, he sees everything as the ātman. Evil does not overcome him — he overcomes all evil; evil does not burn him — he burns up all evil. Free from evil, free from stain, free from doubt, he is a [true] brāhmaṇa; this is the world of Brahman, your majesty, and you have been brought to it." So spoke Yājñavalkya. — "I give the reverend one the Videhas and myself as well, to be his servant!"
441e56bd8a37 · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:17:00 AM UTC
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The conclusion of the instruction is a portrait of the knower in five traits, which became the canon of spiritual maturity: śānta — peaceful, dānta — restrained, uparata — withdrawn, titikṣu — patient, samāhita — collected (the Vedānta-sūtra and the whole tradition will take this fivefold set as the conditions for hearing the truth). Neither ecstasies nor powers but stillness, endurance and collectedness: holiness in the Upaniṣad's sense is modest to look at.
"In himself he sees the ātman, he sees everything as the ātman" — the double vision of the completed one; and his power over evil is given in daring verbs: not "avoids" but "burns up all evil" (sarvaṁ pāpmānaṁ tapati). And then the handing over of the gift: eṣa te brahmalokaḥ… prāpito 'si — "this is the world of Brahman — and you have been brought to it": not described but brought! The instruction was no lecture but a ferrying across.
Janaka's answer is the limit of human gratitude: "I give the Videhas — and myself as well, to be his servant" (bhagavate 'haṁ videhān dadāmi māṁ cāpi saha dāsyāya). A kingdom and a king at the feet of knowledge: the gesture of śaraṇāgati, the complete giving of oneself, by which bhakti measures love. So the great conversation ends: a king who has given everything, and a sage who needs nothing.