स होवाच, उवाच वै सः, अगच्छन्वै ते तद्यत्राश्वमेधयाजिनो गच्छन्तीति; क्व न्वश्वमेधयाजिनो गच्छन्तीति; द्वात्रिंशतं वै देवरथाह्न्यान्ययं लोकः; तं समन्तं पृथिवी द्विस्तावत्पर्येति; तां समन्तं पृथिवी द्विस्तावत्समुद्रः पर्येति; तद्यावती क्शुरस्य धारा, यावद्वा मक्शिकायाः पत्रं, तावानन्तरेणाकाशः; तानिन्द्रः सुपर्णो भूत्वा वायवे प्रायच्छत्, तान्वायुरात्मनि धित्वा तत्रागमयद्यत्राश्वमेधयाजिनोऽभवन्निति; एवमिव वै स वायुमेव प्रशशंस; तस्माद्वायुरेव व्यष्टिः, वायुः समष्टिः; अप पुनर्मृत्युं जयति य एवं वेद । ततो ह भुज्युर्लाह्यायनिरुपरराम ॥ २ ॥
इति तृतीयं ब्राह्मणम् ॥
चतुर्थं ब्रह्मणम् ।sa hovāca, uvāca vai saḥ, agacchanvai te tadyatrāśvamedhayājino gacchantīti; kva nvaśvamedhayājino gacchantīti; dvātriṃśataṃ vai devarathāhnyānyayaṃ lokaḥ; taṃ samantaṃ pṛthivī dvistāvatparyeti; tāṃ samantaṃ pṛthivī dvistāvatsamudraḥ paryeti; tadyāvatī kśurasya dhārā, yāvadvā makśikāyāḥ patraṃ, tāvānantareṇākāśaḥ; tānindraḥ suparṇo bhūtvā vāyave prāyacchat, tānvāyurātmani dhitvā tatrāgamayadyatrāśvamedhayājino’bhavanniti; evamiva vai sa vāyumeva praśaśaṃsa; tasmādvāyureva vyaṣṭiḥ, vāyuḥ samaṣṭiḥ; apa punarmṛtyuṃ jayati ya evaṃ veda | tato ha bhujyurlāhyāyanirupararāma || 2 ||
iti tṛtīyaṃ brāhmaṇam ||
caturthaṃ brahmaṇam |2. Yājñavalkya said, ‘The Gandharva evidently told you that they went where the performers of the horse sacrifice go.’ ‘And where do the performers of the horse sacrifice go?’ ‘Thirty-two times the space covered by the sun’s chariot in a day makes this world; around it, covering twice the area, is the earth; around the earth, covering twice the area, is the ocean. Now, as is the edge of a razor, or the wing of a fly, so is there just that much opening at the junction (of the two halves of the cosmic shell). (Through that they go out). Fire, in the form of a falcon, delivered them to the air; the air, putting them in itself, took them where the (previous) performers of the horse sacrifice were.’ Thus did the Gandharva praise the air.[14] Therefore the air is the diversity of individuals, and the air is the aggregate. He who knows it as such conquers further death. Thereupon Bhujyu, the grandson of Lahya, kept silent.
Yājñavalkya said, ‘The Gandharva evidently told you that they, the descendants of Parikṣit, went where the performers of the horse sacrifice go.’ The particle ‘vai’ recalls a past incident. When his question was answered, Bhujyu asked, ‘And where do the performers of the horse sacrifice go?’ With a view to telling where they go, Yājñavalkya described the dimensions of the cosmic orb: Thirty-two times the space covered by the sun’s chariot in a day makes this world, surrounded by the mountain Lokāloka. This is the world which constitutes the body of Virāj, and in which people reap the fruits of their past actions. This much is the Loka; beyond this is the Aloka. Around it, covering twice the area of this world is the earth. Similarly around the earth, covering twice the area, is the ocean, which the writers of the Purāṇas name after rain-water. Now the size of the opening at the junction of the two halves of the cosmic shell is being given. Through this opening as an exit the performers of the horse sacrifice go out and spread. Now, as is the edge of a razor, or the wing of a fly possessed of fineness, so is there fust that much opening at the junction (of the two halves of the cosmic shell). The word ‘Indra’ is a synonym of God; here it refers to the fire which is kindled in the horse sacrifice, and tlie meditation on which has been described in the words, ‘His head is the east,’ etc. (I. ii. 3). Fire, in the form of a falcon, with wings, tails, etc., delivered them, the descendants of Parikṣit, who had performed the horse sacrifice and had attained’ fire to the air, because, being gross, it itself had no access there. The air, putting them in itself, making them a part of itself, took them where the previous performers of the horse sacrifice were. Thus did the Gandharva praise the air, which was the goal[15] of the performers of the horse sacrifice.
The story is finished; but the Śruti gives us the gist of it directly, stepping out of the garb of the story. Because the air (vital force) is the inner self of all beings, moving and stationary, and is also outside them, therefore the air is the diversity of individuals, in forms relating to the body, the elements and the gods; similarly the air is the aggregate, as the one cosmic vital force. He who knows it as such attains identity with the air in its individual as well as collective form. What he gains by this is being stated: He conquers further death, i.e. after dying once he dies no more. Thereupon, when his question was answered, Bhujya, the grandson of Lahya, kept silent.