Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/196

152 "And Maitreyi said: 'What should I do with that by which I do not become immortal? What my lord knoweth of immortality, tell that to me.'

"Yajnavalkya replied: 'Thou who art truly dear to me, thou speakest dear words. Come, sit down, I will explain it to thee, and mark well what I say.'"

And then he explained the principle which is so often and so impressively taught in the Upanishads, that the Universal Soul dwells in the husband, in the wife, in the sons, and in wealth; in the Brahmans and Kshatriyas, and in all the worlds; in the Devas, in all living creatures, and in all the universe. Maitreyi received and grasped this great truth, and valued it more than the wealth of all the world.

Our next quotation, which is also from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, relates to a great assembly of learned men in the court of Janaka, King of the Videhas:—

"Janaka Videha sacrificed with a sacrifice at which many presents were offered to the priests. Brahmans of the Kurus and the Panchalas had come thither, and Janaka wished to know which of those Brahmans was the best read. So he enclosed a thousand cows, and ten padas of gold were fastened to each pair of horns.

"And Janaka spoke to them: 'Ye venerable Brahmans, he who among you is the wisest, let him drive away these cows.' Then those Brahmans durst not, but Yajnavalkya said to his pupil, 'Drive them away!' He replied, 'O glory of the Sama!' and drove them away."