अथ हैनमूद्दालक आरुणिः पप्रच्छ; याज्ञवल्क्येति होवाच, मद्रेष्ववसाम पतञ्चलस्य काप्यस्य गृहेषु यज्ञमधीयानाः; तस्यासीद्भार्या गन्धर्वगृहीता, तमपृच्छाम कोऽसीति; सोऽब्रवीत्कबन्ध आथर्वण इति; सोऽब्रवीत्पतञ्चलं काप्यं याज्ञिकांश्च, वेत्थ नु त्वम् काप्य तत्सूत्रं येनायं च लोकः परश्च लोकः सर्वाणि च भूतानि संदृब्धानि भवन्तीति; सोऽब्रवीत्पतञ्चलः काप्यः, नाहं तद्भगवन्वेदेति, सोऽब्रवीत्पतञ्चलं काप्यं याज्ञिकांश्चः, वेत्थ नु त्वम् काप्य तमन्तर्यामिणं य इमं च लोकं परं च लोकं सर्वाणि च भूतानि योऽन्तरो यमयतीति; सोऽब्रवीत्पतञ्चलः काप्यः, नाहं तं भगवन्वेदेति; सोऽब्रवीत्पतञ्चलं काप्यं याज्ञिकांश्च, यो वै तत्काप्य सूत्रं विद्यात्तं चान्तर्यामिणमिति स ब्रह्मवित्, स लोकवित्, स देववित्, स वेदवित्, स भूतवित्, स आत्मवित्, स सर्वविदिति; तेभ्योऽब्रवीत्; तदहं वेद; तच्चेत्त्वम् याज्ञवल्क्य सूत्रमविद्वांस्तं चान्तर्यामिणं ब्रह्मगवीरुदजसे, मूर्धा ते विपतिष्यतीति; वेद वा अहं गौतम तत्सूत्रं तं चान्तर्यामिणमिति; यो वा इदं कश्चिद्ब्रूयाद्वेद वेदेति, यथा वेत्थ तथा ब्रूहीति ॥ १ ॥
atha hainamūddālaka āruṇiḥ papraccha; yājñavalkyeti hovāca, madreṣvavasāma patañcalasya kāpyasya gṛheṣu yajñamadhīyānāḥ; tasyāsīdbhāryā gandharvagṛhītā, tamapṛcchāma ko’sīti; so’bravītkabandha ātharvaṇa iti; so’bravītpatañcalaṃ kāpyaṃ yājñikāṃśca, vettha nu tvam kāpya tatsūtraṃ yenāyaṃ ca lokaḥ paraśca lokaḥ sarvāṇi ca bhūtāni saṃdṛbdhāni bhavantīti; so’bravītpatañcalaḥ kāpyaḥ, nāhaṃ tadbhagavanvedeti, so’bravītpatañcalaṃ kāpyaṃ yājñikāṃścaḥ, vettha nu tvam kāpya tamantaryāmiṇaṃ ya imaṃ ca lokaṃ paraṃ ca lokaṃ sarvāṇi ca bhūtāni yo’ntaro yamayatīti; so’bravītpatañcalaḥ kāpyaḥ, nāhaṃ taṃ bhagavanvedeti; so’bravītpatañcalaṃ kāpyaṃ yājñikāṃśca, yo vai tatkāpya sūtraṃ vidyāttaṃ cāntaryāmiṇamiti sa brahmavit, sa lokavit, sa devavit, sa vedavit, sa bhūtavit, sa ātmavit, sa sarvaviditi; tebhyo’bravīt; tadahaṃ veda; taccettvam yājñavalkya sūtramavidvāṃstaṃ cāntaryāmiṇaṃ brahmagavīrudajase, mūrdhā te vipatiṣyatīti; veda vā ahaṃ gautama tatsūtraṃ taṃ cāntaryāmiṇamiti; yo vā idaṃ kaścidbrūyādveda vedeti, yathā vettha tathā brūhīti || 1 ||
1. Then Uddālaka, the son of Aruṇa, asked him. ‘Yājñavalkya,’ he said, ‘in Madra we lived in the house of Patañcala Kāpya (descendant of Kapi), studying the scriptures on sacrifices. His wife was possessed by a Gandharva. We asked him who he was. He said, “Kabandha, the son of Atharvan.” He said to Patañcala Kāpya and those who studied the scriptures on sacrifices, “Kāpya, do you know that Sūtra[1] by which this life, the next life, and all beings are held together?” Patañcala Kāpya said, “I do not know it, sir.” The Gandharva said to him and the students, “Kāpya, do you know that Internal Ruler who controls this and the next life and all beings from within?” Patañcala Kāpya said, “I do not know Him, sir.” The Gandharva said to him and the students, “He who knows that Sūtra and that Internal Ruler as above indeed knows Brahman, knows the worlds, knows the gods, knows the Vedas, knows the beings, knows the self, and knows everything.” He explained it all to them. I know it. If you, Yājñavalkya, do not know that Sūtra and that Internal Ruler, and still take away the cows that belong only to the knowers of Brahman, your head shall fall off.’ ‘I know, O Gautama, that Sūtra and that Internal Ruler.’ ‘Any one can say, “I know, I know.” Tell us what you know.’
Now the Sūtra, the innermost entity of the world of Hiraṇyagarbha, has to be described; hence this section. This Sūtra should be approached through oral instruction, which is therefore being introduced through an anecdote: Then Uddālaka, the son of Aruṇa, asked him. ‘Yājñavalkya,’ he said, ‘in the territory called Madra we lived in the house of Patañcala Kāpya—of the line of Kapi—studying the scriptures on sacrifices. His wife was possessed by a Gandharva. We asked him who he was. He said, “Kabandha, the son of Atharvan.” He, the Gandharva, said to Patañcala Kāpya and his pupils who studied the scriptures on sacrifices, “Kāpya, do you know that Sūtra by which this life, the next life and all beings, from Virāj down to a clump of grass, are held together, strung like a garland with a thread?” Thus addressed, Kāpya reverentially said, “I do not know it, the Sūtra, sir.” The Gandharva again said to the teacher and us: Kāpya, do you know that Internal Ruler—this is being specified—who controls this and the next life and all beings from within, causes them to move like wooden puppets, i.e. makes them perform their respective functions? Thus addressed, Patañcala Kāpya reverentially said, “I do not know Him, sir.” The Gandharva again said—this is in praise of the meditation on the Sūtra and the Internal Ruler within it—“Kāpya, he who knows that Sūtra and that Internal Ruler who is within the Sūtra and governs it, as described above, indeed knows Brahman or the Supreme Self, knows the worlds such as the earth controlled by the Internal Ruler, knows the gods such as Fire presiding over those worlds, knows the Vedas, which are the authority for all, knows the beings such as Hiraṇyagarbha[2] and the rest, who are held together by the Sūtra and controlled by the Internal Ruler who is within it, knows the self, which is the agent and experiencer and is controlled by the same Internal Ruler, and knows everything—the whole world also similarly controlled.” This praise of the meditation on the Sūtra and the Internal Ruler tempted Kāpya and us to hear of it; and the Gandharva explained the Sūtra and the Internal Ruler to them and us. I know this meditation on the Sūtra and the Internal Ruler, having been instructed by the Gandharva. If you, Yājñavalkya, do not know that Sūtra and that Internal Ruler, i.e. do not know Brahman, and still wrongly take away the cows that belong only to the knowers of Brahman, I will burn you with my curses, and your head shall fall off.’ Thus addressed, Yājñavalkya said, ‘I know, O Gautama (descendant of Gotama), that Sūtra about which the Gandharva told you, and that Internal Ruler about whom you have known from him.’ At this Gautama retorted: ‘Any one, any fool, can say what you have said—what ?—“I know, I know,” lauding himself. What is the good of that bluster? Show it in action; tell tfs what you know about them.’