1. Harih, Om. There is this city of Brahman (the body), and in it
the palace, the small lotus (of the heart), and in it that small ether.
Now what exists within that small ether, that is to be sought for, that
is to be understood.
2. And if they should say to him: “Now with regard to that city of
Brahman, and the palace in it, i.e. the small lotus of the heart, and
the small ether within the heart, what is there within it that deserves
to be sought for, or that is to be understood.”
3. Then he should say: “As large as this ether (all space) is, so
large is that ether within the heart. Both heaven and earth are
contained within it, both fire and air, both sun and moon, both
lightning and stars; and whatever there is of him (the Self) here in
the world, and whatever is not (i.e. whatever has been or will be), all
that is contained within it.”
4. And if they should say to him: “If everything that exists is
contained in that city of Brahman, all beings and all desires (whatever
can be imagined or desired), then what is left of it, when old age
reaches it and scatters it, or when it falls to pieces?” Then he should
say: “By the old age of the body, that (the ether, or Brahman within
it) does not age; by the death of the body, that (the ether, or Brahman
within it is not killed. That the Brahman) is the true Brahma-city (not
the body). In it all desires are contained. It is the Self, free from
sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst,
which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing
but what it ought to imagine. Now as here on earth people follow as
they are commanded, and depend on the object which they are attached
to, be it a country or a piece of land,
6. “And as here on earth, whatever has been acquired by exertion,
perishes, so perishes whatever is acquired for the next world by
sacrifices and other good actions performed on earth. Those who depart
from hence without having discovered the Self and those true desires,
for them there is no freedom in all the worlds. But those who depart
from hence, after having discovered the Self and those true desires,
for them there is freedom in all the worlds.
