पृथिव्येव यस्यायतनम्, अग्निर्लोकः, मनोज्योतिः, यो वै तं पुरुषं विद्यात्सर्वस्यात्मनः परायणम्, स वै वेदिता स्याद्याज्ञवल्क्य । वेद वा अहं तं पुरुषं सर्वस्यात्मनः परायणं यमात्थ; य एवायं शारीरः पुरुषः स एष, वदैव शाकल्य; तस्य का देवतेति; अमृतमिति होवाच ॥ १० ॥
pṛthivyeva yasyāyatanam, agnirlokaḥ, manojyotiḥ, yo vai taṃ puruṣaṃ vidyātsarvasyātmanaḥ parāyaṇam, sa vai veditā syādyājñavalkya | veda vā ahaṃ taṃ puruṣaṃ sarvasyātmanaḥ parāyaṇaṃ yamāttha; ya evāyaṃ śārīraḥ puruṣaḥ sa eṣa, vadaiva śākalya; tasya kā devateti; amṛtamiti hovāca || 10 ||
10. ‘He who knows that being whose abode is the earth, whose instrument of vision is fire, whose light is the Manas, and who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs, knows truly, O Yājñavalkya.’ ‘I know that being of whom you speak—who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs. It is the being who is identified with the body. Go on, śākalya.’ ‘Who is his deity (cause)?’ ‘Nectar (chyle),’ said he.
He who knows that being or god whose abode is the earth, whose instrument of vision is fire: ‘Loka’ here means that through which one sees; that is to say, who sees through fire. Whose light is the Manas, who considers the pros and cons of a thing through the Manas. In other words, this god has the earth for his body and fire for his eye, weighs things through the mind, identifies himself with the earth, and is possessed of a body and organs. And who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs. The idea is this: As the skin, flesh and blood derived from the mother, which stand for the field, he is the ultimate resort of the bone, marrow and sperm derived from the father, which stand for the seed, as well as of the organs. He who knows it as such knows truly, is a scholar. You do not know him, Yājñavalkya, but still pose as a scholar. This is his idea.
‘If knowing him confers scholarship, I know that being of whom you speak—who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs Then Śākalya must have said, ‘If you know that being, tell me what his description is.’ ‘Listen what it is,’ says the other, ‘it is the being who is identified with the body, which preponderates in earthy elements, i.e. who is represented by the three constituents of the body, or sheaths, as they are called, derived from the mother—that is the god about whom you have asked, Śākalya. But there is something more to be said about him by way of description; go on, Śākalya, i.e. ask about it.’ Thus challenged, he was furious like a goaded elephant and said, ‘Who is his deity, the deity of that god identified with the body?’ That from which something emanates has been spoken of in this section as the deity of that thing. ‘Nectar,’ said he. ‘Nectar’ here means chyle, or the watery essence of the food that is eaten, which produces the blood derived from the mother; for it generates the blood stored in a woman, and this blood produces the skin, flesh and blood of the foetus, which are the support of its bone, marrow, etc. The common portions of the next seven paragraphs need no explanation.