यदेव ते कश्चिदब्रवीत्तच्छृणवामेति; अब्रवीन्मे बर्कुर्वार्ष्णः, चक्शुर्वै ब्रह्मेति; यथा मातृमान्पितृमानाचार्यवान् ब्रूयात्, तथा तद्वार्ष्णोऽब्रवीच्चक्शुर्वै ब्रह्मेति, अपश्यतो हि किं स्यादिति; अब्रवीत्तु ते तस्यायतनं प्रतिष्ठां? न मेऽब्रवीदिति; एकपाद्वा एतत्सम्राडिति; स वै नो ब्रूहि याज्ञवल्क्य; चक्शुरेवायतनम्, आकाशः प्रतिष्ठा, सत्यमित्येतदुपासीत; का सत्यता याज्ञवल्क्य? चक्शुरेव सम्राडिति होवाच, चक्शुषा वै सम्राट् पश्यन्तमाहुरद्राक्शीरिति, स आहाद्राक्शमिति, तत्सत्यं भवति; चक्शुर्वै सम्राट् परमं ब्रह्म; नैनं चक्शुर्जहाति, सर्वाण्येनं भूतान्यभिक्शरन्ति, देवो भूत्वा देवानप्येति, य एवं विद्वानेतदुपास्ते; हस्त्यृषभं सहस्रं ददामीति होवाच जनको वैदेहः; स होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः, पिता मेऽमन्यत नाननुशिष्य हरेतेति ॥ ४ ॥
yadeva te kaścidabravīttacchṛṇavāmeti; abravīnme barkurvārṣṇaḥ, cakśurvai brahmeti; yathā mātṛmānpitṛmānācāryavān brūyāt, tathā tadvārṣṇo’bravīccakśurvai brahmeti, apaśyato hi kiṃ syāditi; abravīttu te tasyāyatanaṃ pratiṣṭhāṃ? na me’bravīditi; ekapādvā etatsamrāḍiti; sa vai no brūhi yājñavalkya; cakśurevāyatanam, ākāśaḥ pratiṣṭhā, satyamityetadupāsīta; kā satyatā yājñavalkya? cakśureva samrāḍiti hovāca, cakśuṣā vai samrāṭ paśyantamāhuradrākśīriti, sa āhādrākśamiti, tatsatyaṃ bhavati; cakśurvai samrāṭ paramaṃ brahma; nainaṃ cakśurjahāti, sarvāṇyenaṃ bhūtānyabhikśaranti, devo bhūtvā devānapyeti, ya evaṃ vidvānetadupāste; hastyṛṣabhaṃ sahasraṃ dadāmīti hovāca janako vaidehaḥ; sa hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ, pitā me’manyata nānanuśiṣya hareteti || 4 ||
4. ‘Let me hear whatever any one may have told you.’ ‘Barku, the son of Vṛṣṇa, has told me that the eye (sun) is Brahman.’ ‘As one who has a mother, father and teacher should say, so has the son of Vṛṣṇa said this—that the eye is Brahman. For what can a person have who cannot see? But did he tell you about its abode and support?’ ‘No, he did not.’ ‘This Brahman is only one-footed, O Emperor.’ ‘Then you tell us, Yājñavalkya.’ ‘The eye is its abode, and the ether (the Undifferentiated) its support. It should be meditated upon as truth.’ ’What is truth, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘The eye itself, O Emperor,’ said Yājñavalkya, ’ if a person, O Emperor, says to one who has seen with the eyes, “Have you seen?” and one answers, “Yes, I have,” then it is true. The eye, O Emperor, is the Supreme Brahman. The eye never leaves him who knowing thus meditates upon it; all beings eagerly come to him; and being a god, he attains the gods,’ ‘I give you a thousand cows with a bull like an elephant,’ said Emperor Janaka. Yājñavalkya replied, ‘My father was of opinion that one should not accept (wealth) from a disciple without fully instructing him.’
‘Let me hear,’ etc. Barku, the son of Vrsna, etc. The eye is Brahman: The sun is the presiding deity of the eye. The secret name is truth, ‘Because what one hears with the ears may be false, but not what one sees with the eyes, therefore if a person, O Emperor, says to one who has seen with the eyes, “Have you seen the elephant?” and he answers, “Yes, I have,” then it is considered true; while if another says, “I have heard of it,” it may not correspond with fact. But what is seen with the eyes is always true, as it corresponds with fact.’