तदेष श्लोको भवति ।
यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः ।
अथ मर्त्योऽमृतो भवत्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुत ॥ इति ।
तद्यथाहिनिर्व्लयनी वल्मीके मृता प्रत्यस्ता शयीत, एवमेवेदं शरीरं शेते, अथायमशरीरोऽमृतः प्राणो ब्रह्मैव तेज एव; सोऽहं भगवते सहस्रं ददामीति होवाच जनको वैदेहः ॥ ७ ॥tadeṣa śloko bhavati ।
yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye’sya hṛdi śritāḥ |
atha martyo’mṛto bhavatyatra brahma samaśnuta || iti |
tadyathāhinirvlayanī valmīke mṛtā pratyastā śayīta, evamevedaṃ śarīraṃ śete, athāyamaśarīro’mṛtaḥ prāṇo brahmaiva teja eva; so’haṃ bhagavate sahasraṃ dadāmīti hovāca janako vaidehaḥ || 7 ||7. Regarding this there is this verse: ‘When all the desires that dwell in his heart (mind) are gone, then he, having been mortal, becomes immortal, and attains Brahman in this very body.’ Just as the lifeless slough of a snake is cast off and lies in the ant-hill, so does this body lie. Then the self becomes disembodied and immortal, (becomes) the Prāṇa (Supreme Self), Brahman, the Light. ‘I give you a thousand (cows), sir,’ said Janaka, Emperor of Videha.
Regarding this very theme there is this verse or Mantra: When all the desires, forms of yearning, of the knower of Brahman all the objects of whose desire are the Self, are gone, are destroyed together with their root. That dwell in his heart, those well-known desires concerning this and the next life, viz. the desire for children, wealth and worlds, that abide in the intellect (mind) of the ordinary man. Then he, having been mortal, becomes immortal, being divested of desires together with their root. It is virtually implied that desires concerning things other than the Self fall under the category of ignorance, and are but forms of death. Therefore, on the cessation of death, the man of realisation becomes immortal. And attains Brahman, the identity with Brahman, i.e. liberation, living in this very body. Hence liberation does not require such things as going to some other place. Therefore the organs of a man of realisation do not depart; they are merged in their cause, the self, just where they are. As has been said (III. ii. 12), only their names remain.
But how is it that when the organs have been merged, and the body also has dissolved in its cause, the liberated sage lives in the body identified with all, but does not revert to his former embodied existence, which is subject to transmigration? The answer is being given: Here is an illustration in point. Just as in the world the lifeless slough of a snake is cast off by it as no more being a part of itself, and lies in the ant – hill, or any other nest of a snake, so does this body, discarded as non-self by the liberated man, who corresponds to the snake, lie like dead.
Then the other, the liberated man identified with all—who corresponds to the snake—although he resides just there like the snake, becomes disembodied, and is no more connected with the body. Because formerly he was embodied and mortal on account of his identification with the body under the influence of his desires and past work; since that has gone, he is now disembodied, and therefore immortal. Prāṇa means that which lives. It will be said in a succeeding verse, ‘The Vital Force of the vital force’ (IV. iv. 18): and another Śruti says, ‘The mind (individual self), my dear, is tethered to the Prāṇa (Supreme Self)’ (Ch. VI. viii. 2). From the context and the sentence also it is clear that the word ‘Prāṇa’ here means the Supreme Self. Brahman, the same as the Supreme Self. What is that? The Light of Pure Intelligence, the light of the Ātman, illumined by which the universe gets its eye of knowledge, and beaming with intelligence, remains unshaken in its path.
That wished-for question for the purpose of liberation, about which Yājñavalkya gave Janaka a boon, has been elaborately answered by the Śruti, taking the form of the story of Janaka and Yājñavalkya. It deals with bondage and liberation together with their causes, by means of themes and illustrations. The way of deliverance from relative existence has been told to all. Now the Śruti itself states that Janaka said such and such to compensate for the instructions he had received. What was it? ‘Thus delivered, I give you a thousand cows, sir, as a requital for the instructions received,’ said Janaka, Emperor of Videha. Now, since the meaning of liberation has been ascertained, why does he not offer himself as well as the empire of Videha, but merely give a thousand cows, as when only a part of liberation was explained? What is the idea behind it?
Here some say, Janaka, who takes delight in the knowledge of the Self, wants to hear again through Mantras what he has already heard; hence he does not offer everything. He thinks he will do it at the end, after he has heard what he wants to from Yājñavalkya. He is afraid lest, in case he offers everything now, the sage should think that he does not want to hear any more, and withhold the Mantras. So he gives a thousand cows to intimate his desire to hear more. All this is wrong for the Śruti, being trustworthy authority, can never have recourse to a subterfuge like a man. Besides there is something more to be explained; although liberation, which is attainable through Self-knowledge, has been explained, a part of the latter, viz. the relinquishment of desires that is called renunciation, is yet to be described. Therefore the view that the Emperor merely wishes to hear the Mantras is not sound. A resort to repetition can be made only when there is no other way out, and should be avoided when there is an alternative; and we have already said (p. 486) that renunciation is not a mere eulogy on Self-knowledge. It may be urged that in that case the Emperor should say, ‘(Please instruct me) further about liberation itself.’ To this we reply: The objection does not hold. The Emperor thinks that renunciation is not a direct cause of liberation like Self-knowledge; accordingly it can go in like a subsidiary act in a sacrifice. For the Smṛti says, ‘One should give up the body through renunciation.’ Even if renunciation were a means to liberation, it would not necessitate the request, ‘(Please instruct me) further about liberation itself,’ because it merely serves to mature Self-knowledge, which is the means of liberation.