The Chhandogya Upanishad

by Swami Krishnananda

Chapter 2: Uddalaka's Teaching Concerning the Oneness of the Self

Section 8: Concerning Sleep, Hunger, Thirst and Dying (Continued)

By way of the analysis of the constituents of the individual, it has thus been pointed out by Uddalaka, the sage, that everything in this personality is made up of the essence of the three elements—fire, water and earth. And what we call hunger is nothing but the dissolution of the physical food by the element of water and the absorption of it into the system. What you call thirst is similarly the absorption of the water element in the system by the fire principle within us. The effect is consumed by the cause and is absorbed into its own self. This process continues until all effects are absorbed into the final cause of all things, where they abide absolutely and completely.

6. Tasya kva mulam syad anyatra adbhyah, adbhih, saumya, sungena tejo mulam anviccha, tejasa, saumya sungena sanmulam anviccha san mulah saumya imah sarvah prajah sadayatanah, satpratishtha yatha nu khalu, saumya imas-tisro devatah purusam prapya trivrt-trivrdekaika bhavati, tad-uktam purastad-eva bhavati, asya saumya purusasya prayato vang manasi sampadyate, manah prane pranas-tejasi, tejah parasyam devatayam.

What is the ultimate cause? The cause ultimate can only be that which is not absorbed into a higher cause. The absorption process ceases when the ultimate cause is reached. The grosser forms get absorbed into the subtler ones, and the subtler ones reach the causal state, the so-called ultimate cause from the empirical point of view. This ultimate cause dissolves in the Absolute. There, everything comes to a cessation. The individuality gets dissolved, as it were. It gets tuned up to the ultimate Reality. So, there is an absorption of the grosser element of the earth into the water element, the water element into the fire element and the fire element into the ultimate Reality which is called Sat, pure Being. It is the origin of all things from which the multiplicity appears to proceed through the instrumentality of this triplicated structure of the universe, the constituents of which are fire, water and earth. Everything, ultimately, is rooted in Being. This is what Uddalaka makes out.

San-mulam anviccha: If we find out and discover the cause of everything in pure Being, we will not find the ultimate cause of anything in any other thing, except in that Being, pure and simple, in which the effects are rooted in an undistinguishable manner. Imah sarvah prajah sadayatanah: All this variety of creation is rooted in Being which is incapable of further absorption into any higher cause, because nothing can be greater than Being. Everything is an effect of It. Everything is an expression of It, but It Itself is not an expression of anything else. The generality of existence that is behind the particularity of objects is what is called Sat or Satta. Sometimes, it is known as Satta samanya, general Being in all created objects which is their essence. Every particular can be resolved into this causeless cause. Just as the varieties of furniture can be resolved into the cause which is the wood, so is the case with any other manufactured object. There is a tendency of every effect to return into its cause. This is what we call the evolutionary process. It is impossible for the effect to rest in itself, because of the pull exerted by the cause. This pull is invisibly felt and inexorably exercised universally everywhere, in all creation, in respect of every object whatever it may be, organic or inorganic. And so nothing can have any peace in this world. Everything is restless, everything moves, everything is tense and everything has an objective transcending itself. That is why there is such endless activity going on in the world, in every field of life. Everything tries to overcome its own limitations and to entertain higher and higher objectives, until it reaches the pure Being. The very aspiration to become something else, to transcend one's self, to become better and to move towards something greater, is because of the limitedness, the finitude of things. This itself is a pointer to the existence of a cause beyond themselves. If there is no cause beyond an effect, there would be no motion of the effect towards something else, and there will be no feeling of finitude. There would be no aspiration, no desire whatsoever, and no activity at all.

So, this is the philosophical background to which our mind is driven through the analogical explanations of Sage Uddalaka, when he says that the earth element goes back into the water element, the water element into the fire element, and the fire element into that pure Being, the causeless cause of all things. Sarvah prajah sadayatanah: Everything is having Being as its abode and everything is rooted in Being. Everything is established in It, as the branches of a tree are supported by the trunk and are dependent on it. The trunk again is dependent on the root, and the root on the seed which contains all this variety. The magnificent expanse of the tree is hidden in that little insignificant thing which we call the seed. We have already explained how the three elements get mixed up in certain proportions called trivritkarana and come to constitute both the objective universe as well as the subjective body of an individual.

Now this subtlety of things, this essence of things, this background of all objects and this invisible Cause that is transcendent and is behind all the variety of particulars, is the Self of all beings. This is the Atman of all things and everything in this world has this as its Self. Everything is moving towards the Self of itself. Where do we move? We move towards our Self. We do not move towards something else, some other object. So, even the so-called evolution is not a movement towards something else. It is a movement towards the very Self of that which is moving.

The whole difficulty is to locate where that Self is. Is It inside or outside, is It in me or in you, or is It somewhere else? This is a point which will be discussed in the next chapter of this Upanishad. This movement of the world and the tendency of things to move, the whole process of the absorption of the effect into the cause, is ultimately an indication that everything is pulled by the Self towards Itself. The subtlest of all things is the Being, pure and simple, and this Being which we call Sat is also the Atman of all things. There is a hint given here as to where the Self is, though it is not pointedly explained as to where It is. You have already been told as to where Being is, and now the Being is identified with the Atman, the Self. So naturally where Being is, there Self also has to be. And we have already said that the Sat, the pure Being, is the Sattasamanya, and therefore, it must be everywhere. So the Self is everywhere. Now, where is it that you are going when you are pulled by the Self towards Itself? What is it that pulls you, which object? Everything pulls you from every side. So it is not an entry of one thing into another thing, not even of the individual into the cosmic. It is not anything internal in an empirical sense, internal in the sense of something being inside another thing physically. It is a metaphysical internality, a spiritual internality, inconceivable by the mind. It cannot be calculated in a mathematical way as if something is contained in something else; not at all. It is the Self of all things in a novel manner, impossible to describe in words, and it is this universal Selfhood which is the cause of all things and towards which everything is moving.

7. Sa ya esho'nima aitad atmyam-idam sarvam, tat satyam, sa atma: tat-tvam-asi, svetaketo, iti; bhuya eva ma, bhagavan, vijnapayatv-iti, tatha, saumya, iti hovaca.

"O Svetaketu, my dear boy! You cannot be separated from That; you cannot stand outside this Being. As everything has come from that, you too have come from That. By the triplicated process of the elements your body has been formed, and everything that you are individually is a shape taken by that Being through the triplication of the three elements. So what you call 'yourself' or 'myself' or anything, refers to the Self and is a shape or form taken by the Being, and these shapes in turn cannot stand outside the Being. That is the Self of all Beings, and therefore, naturally you too are that. You cannot stand outside it, or external to it, or different from it. That is your Self; you yourself are That. O Svetaketu, the great conclusion to which you come by the analysis of the three elements is the existence of pure Being as the background of all that exists." So says Uddalaka.

Bhuya eva ma, bhagavan, vijnapayatv-iti: "This is something very difficult to understand," says Svetaketu. "These are things that I have not heard of from my preceptors earlier, and I require further instruction in greater detail about this Being, regarding which you have instructed me just now. You have startled me by saying that I am one with Being. It is more difficult to understand when you say that this Being includes other beings also which you call different objects of creation. You have merged me with other objects, and taken me into this Being, as everything is put together in a menstruum, as it were, and melted into a pot where all beings have become one. I require further explanation. How is it that everything becomes one in Being, and what type of Being is this where we all go and become united? What is this process of unification? How do all beings get together and melt, as it were, into this Being when they reach It?" The following sections contain Uddalaka's further explanation.

Section 9: The Indwelling Spirit

1. Yatha, saumya, madhu madhukrto nistishthanti, nanatyayanam vrkshanam rasan samavaharam katam rasam gamaynti.

2. Te yatha tatra na vivekam labhante, amushyaham vrkshasya raso'smi, amushyaham vrkshasya rasosmiti, evam eva khalu, saumya, imah sarvah prajah sati sampadya na viduh, sati sampadyamaha iti.

What happens to all individuals when they reach Being? The explanation is given through an analogy. "You see," says the father to the son, "honeybees go to different flowers, collect the essence of the flowers and convert it into a jelly by certain chemical processes that take place within their own bodies. Thus is formed what is called honey. Now this thing called honey includes the essences of various flowers, hundreds and hundreds of them from where they have been collected. The honey is an amalgam of all these essences, but in this body of the honey one cannot distinguish the essence of one flower from that of another flower. No particular essence can be cognised in its own individuality in this mass called honey. Everything has become indistinguishable. It is something like what happens to the various essences of the flowers when they become honey. They have become one and they are present in honey, no doubt, but that distinguishability of character is absent. No particular flower can be distinguished there in the body of the honey, and no particular essence will be conscious of its presence there as an individual isolated from others. There would be a total consciousness of the honey, but not the individual consciousness of the particular essence of the flowers of which the honey has been formed. This is the work that the bees have done. They have abolished the distinction of all these flowers and merged them into a single essence. That is called honey. This is what happens to all people when they go to pure Being. They are drawn back to pure Being just as the essences of flowers are drawn into the body of the honey. And when they go there they no more exist—not that they do not exist. The essences of the flowers do exist in the honey. The only difference is that they will not be aware of such thoughts as, "I am this flower", "I am that flower" and so on. Similarly when all reach the Being, though they do not cease to exist, they do not have such thoughts such as "I am Mr. So-and-so", "I am Mrs. So-and-so", "I am a man", "I am a woman", "I am a human being", "I am this", "I am that", etc. All distinction vanishes. They will be there as the constitutive essence of the pure substance that Being is, even as honey is, so that there would be no self-consciousness of a particularised nature. This will happen to us when we reach pure Reality, the Absolute Being.

In the case of the entry of the individual into the state of pure Being, there is an important point to note. There can be two types of entries, an unconscious entry and a conscious entry. In deep sleep one does contact the nature of this pure Being. One just stumbles upon it, as it were. One is unconscious of it and does not really get absorbed into it. But one does contact it in some mysterious manner. One's individuality-consciousness is abolished no doubt, but it does not become veritable universal consciousness. It becomes as though unconsciousness. There is something that is common between unconsciousness and absolute Consciousness. The common principle is that in both of these states there is no particularised consciousness. But there is a tremendous difference. A philosopher once humorously remarked that the difference between universal consciousness and deep sleep and similarity between them are like those that exist between God and dog. There is similarity no doubt, and yet all know the difference. Because of the inability to absorb oneself into that Being, one comes back from that state. Even at death one does not get conscious entry into the Being. One is not able to continue in either condition of deep sleep or death for long, on account of the existence of the potentiality in the form of subtle impressions of unfulfilled desires to rise up into waking consciousness, in this body when one wakes up, or into another body when one is reborn. When one gets up from sleep one is the same person that went into sleep. A wakes up as A, B as B, C as C when they return from deep sleep. A does not become B or C.

3. Ta iha vyaghro va simho ra vrko va varaho va kito va patango va damso va masako va yad-yad-bhavanti, tadabhavanti.

If a tiger sleeps, when it gets up it is the same tiger only, not even another tiger in the same species. If a mosquito sleeps, when it gets up it is the same mosquito only. They do not become something else even though in sleep they have no particular consciousness, having merged in the pure Being. Whatever one's nature is, one reverts to that particular form of individuality in spite of the fact that there has been a tentative contact in an unconscious manner with the undistinguished Reality which is pure Being.

This pure Being is the Self of all. One may be conscious or not. That is a different matter. But that is the Being behind all your activities, behind your sleep, behind your birth and death, behind the whole process of universal evolution. It is the Self that is caught into this activity in the form of birth, death, incarnations, etc. This will not cease until everything is ultimately resolved through enquiry and meditation into that Supreme Being, which is called salvation. This is conscious entry into the Being, as against the unconscious entry in deep sleep and death.

4. Sa ya esho 'nima aitadatmyam idam sarvam, tat satyam, sa atma, tat-tvam-asi, svetaketo, iti; bhuya eva ma bhagavan, vijnapayatv-iti; tatha saumya, iti hovacha.

"O Svetaketu, you are That," instructs the father, Uddalaka. "Please explain further," says the boy. He is not satisfied. "I shall explain to you further," replies the father.

Section 10: The Indwelling Spirit (Continued)—Illustration of Rivers and the Ocean

1. Imah, saumya, nadyah purastat pracyah syandante, pascat praticyah tah samudrat samudram evapiyanti, sa samudra eva bhavati, ta yatha yatra na viduh, iyam aham asmi, iyam aham asmiti.

There are the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Krishna, Cauvery, etc. They all go to the same ocean and fall into the same body of water. When they enter the ocean they become a mass of water and you no longer can make out which is Ganga, which is Yamuna, or any other. If you take a tumbler of water from the ocean you do not know which river-water you are taking. Why? Because the distinguishability of character in the river has been abolished in the body of the waters of the ocean. No river thinks "I am Ganga", "I am Yamuna", etc., after it has entered the ocean. The bodily distinction of the river is completely transcended, overcome, abolished from the roots. All is now the ocean. This is an analogy to describe what pure Being is, in respect of the various individuals here. These created individuals in bodies are, like rivers, tending towards the ocean of the Absolute. Their reaching the pure Being, which is the Absolute, is just like the rivers entering the ocean. The rivers become the ocean and they do not know where they are, yet they are there. We cannot say that the rivers are absent in the ocean. They are there. So, it is not a negation of individuality, but a transcendence of individuality. It is not that the rivers are destroyed there, but they are absorbed into a larger Being, into a greater reality of themselves, which is their Self. We may say in a sense, the ocean is the Self of the rivers towards which they go and get absorbed, which they become in the end. So is the case with all of us, all individuals. All beings in creation tend towards the ocean of the ultimate Being. When they go there, they cannot distinguish themselves, for they become one with the Being.

2. Evam eva khalu, saumya, imah sarvah prajah sata agamya na viduh, sata agacchamaha iti, ta iha vyaghro va simho va, vrko va, varaho va, kito va, patango va, damso va, masako va, yad-yad-bhavanti tad-abhavanti.

3. Sa ya esho'anima etad-atmyam-idam sarvam tat satyam sa atma tat-tvam-asi, svetaketo-iti, bhuya eva me bhagavan vijnapayatviti tatha somya iti hovacha.

When they have gone there and come back, they do not know that they have gone there and have come back from there. They have touched, entered, practically become one with the Being in deep sleep, but they do not know that. Their eyes have been blindfolded, as it were. When they come back, each one says, "I am so-and-so". That is all. They have no other consciousness-Sata agamya na viduh sata agacchamaha iti. Whatever they were, animals or human beings, that they become again. The particular species and the particular body with which they entered into sleep or die, they wake up or are reborn into that very species and body, because of the presence of the subtle body which has not been destroyed through Perfect Knowledge. Therefore, after waking up from deep sleep or after being reborn in another body they are not conscious of having come from the Being.

"Now this is the Reality, this is the Being of all things, and you too are that-Tat-tvam-asi, Svetaketu." "Bhuya eva ma bhagavan vijnapayatviti-explain further," says the boy. "It does not appear that you have concluded the instructions. There is something more. This is the life of all Beings. That you call the Existence or the Being of things is also the Vitality in all. It is what is called life. We say, there is life in this and there is no life in that. A tree has life, but a stone has no life. What is meant by Life? Is it that Being has not manifested Itself adequately in one thing, and It has manifested Itself in a greater proportion in something else? It seems that there is a greater manifestation of Reality in plants and the vegetable kingdom than in stones and the mineral kingdom, for instance. Kindly explain this so that my doubts may be cleared."

Section 11: The Indwelling Spirit (Continued)—Illustration of a Tree

1. Asya, saumya mahato vrkshasya yo mule'bhyahanyat, jivan sravet; yo madhye'bhyahanyat, jivan sravet yo'gre 'bhyahanyat, jivan sravet, sa esha jivenatmana'nuprabhutah pepiyamano modamana-stishthati.

There must have been a huge tree in front of the kutir of Uddalaka. So he says, "Look at this big tree in front of our kutir." Suppose some one lays an axe on one of its branches, it will immediately demonstrate that it has got life. Juice will flow from that cut part-jivan sravet. Because there is life, it will exude the essence from its body. This will happen if it is cut in any other part of its body also. Madhye'bhyahanyat jivan sravet-suppose one cuts the trunk, then also we will see the juice coming out. Agre abhyahanyat jivan sravet-you may cut a little branch on the top. Then also you will see that there is life in it, as juice will exude from that particular part. Sa esha jivenatmana'nuprabhutah pepiyamano modamanaas-tishthati. The exuberant growth of the tree is due to the life that is in the tree. You will find much foliage of trees in certain seasons of the year when the whole vegetable kingdom is highly delighted. What is this delight? What is this happiness that we experience in the blooming of a beautiful tree. It is the manifestation of the life principle in it. It is the working of jiva, that essence which you call life. It cannot be explained in any other way. No one can say what this life is. You can simply say there is life, that is all. But what do you mean by life? Life is life. It cannot be explained by any other word. It has no definition, it has no comparison. Life cannot be compared to anything else, for there is nothing like it. It is unique in its nature. It stands by itself absolutely. We simply say life, as if everything is clear. There is life and we lead a life. But what is life? Nobody knows. Nobody cares to do anything about it, because it is the ultimate Being. It cannot be explained by any other higher reference. So, the existence of the tree, the working of the tree, the living of the tree is due to this vitality which is referable back to pure Being, the Sat. This is present not only in the tree but in everything else. If life departs from the tree, the tree dries up. When you say a particular branch of the tree is dry, what you mean is, that life has departed from that particular part.

2. Asya yad-ekam sakham jivo jahati, atha sa sushyati, dvitiyam jahati, atha sa sushyati, trtiyam jahati, atha sa sushyati, sarvam jahati sarvah sushyati, evam eva khalu saumya, viddhi iti hovacha.

That particular branch which is divested or deprived of the life principle becomes dry. It is lifeless. Another branch dries up, a third branch dries up, finally the trunk dries up; the whole tree can dry up. If the life principle in the tree leaves the body of the tree, the whole tree dries up. So what is it that is in the tree which you call life? That is the Essence.

3. Jivapetam vava kiledam mriyate, na jivo mriyata iti, sa ya esho'nima etad-atmyam idam sarvam, tat satyam, sa atma, tat-tvam-asi, svetaketo, iti; bhuya eva ma, bhagavan, vijnapayatviti; tatha, saumya, iti hovacha.

What we call death is the departing of life from a particular body. So death is not the death of the life principle itself. Na jivo mriyata-life itself does not die. The vitality is transferred from one location to another. It is withdrawn from a particular formation. That is all. Life which is the manifestation of the general principle, the pure Being, the Reality, is withdrawn from that particular manifestation called the body. Then that particular form is said to die. It is deprived of the essence, the life-force. So is the case with everything including us. Know this. Evam eva khalu saumya viddhi.

This is only an example that I have given to you, my dear boy. From this example, this analogy, you must understand everything that follows as an implication. We are all like trees, human bodies endowed with the living principle, and we shall die only when the life principle in us in withdrawn. This Essence that is the Being is the Atman of all things. And everything in this world, everything in this creation has this as the Self. There are not many Selves. Though the bodies are many, forms are many, individuals are many, the Self is only one. So, everything reverts into this Supreme Self from where it has come and towards which it tends some way or other. "That you are, Svetaketu-Tattvam-asi, Svetaketu," says the teacher. "Please explain further-Bhuya eva ma bhagavan vijnapayatv-iti," asks the disciple. "Tatha saumya itihovacha-well, I shall explain to you further," replies the teacher. He tells something very interesting about this unmanifested Being from which manifested forms arise.

Section 12: The Indwelling Spirit (Continued)—Illustration of the Banyan Tree and Its Seed

1. Nyagrodha-phalam ata aharet; idam, bhagavah, iti; bhinddhiti; bhinnam, bhagavah, iti; kim atra pasyasiti; anvya ivema dhanah, bhagavah, iti; asam angaikam bhinddhiti; bhinna, bhagavah, iti; kim atra pasyasiti; na kim-chana, bhagavah, iti.

There was a banyan tree in front of the kutir. All know that the banyan tree is very large but the fruit is so small and the seed is atomic. "Bring one fruit," says the father to the son. The boy runs and brings a small fruit of that huge expanse of the tree called banyan, and says, "Idam bhagavah-here is the fruit, my father." "Bhinddhiti-split it, break the fruit into pieces," says the father. "Bhinnam bhagavah-I have broken it," replies Svetaketu. "Kim atra pasyasiti-now what do you see inside it?" asks the father. The boy says, "Anvya-I see small granules."

All must have seen the fruit of a banyan tree. How many fruits are there in the tree? How many seeds are there in each fruit? Innumerable, countless, very tiny, atomic seeds are there. How small they are! And you can contrast the smallness of the seeds with the largeness of the tree which is the banyan.

"Anvya ivema dhanah-very small seeds I see inside the fruit, very tiny, atomic seeds are there," says the son. "Asam angaikam bhinddhiti-now you split one small seed," says the father.

It is very difficult to split it. You cannot take it by the hand. It will escape your grip. Somehow the boy split that little atomic seed.

"Bhinna bhagavah iti-yes, I have split it," he says. "Kim atra pasyasiti-now inside that very little atomic seed, what do you see?" the father asks. "Na kim-chana-I do not see anything," says the boy.

Our naked eyes cannot see what is inside that little seed. There is a small jelly-like, very tiny, invisible essence inside that seed. It is very small, a semi-liquid-like substance. We may be able to see it with our powerful microscope. There is no solid hard substance there inside that little seed.

"What do you see in it?" asks the father, and the son replies, "I cannot see anything."

2. Tam hovacha yam vai, saumya, etam animanam na nibhalayase, etasya vai, saumya, esho'nimna evam mahan nyagrodhas-tishthati srddhatsva, saumya iti.

The father now explains: "Do you know, my dear boy, what is inside the seed? It is a great wonder. You say that you cannot see anything there. It is practically invisible and non-existent, as it were, from your point of view. Thin, apparently non-existent something, the very little, subtle essence there inside that little seed, has become this vast tree in front of you. Do you know this? How is this possible? Is it not a miracle that a terribly large tree grows from this little speck of jelly which cannot even be seen with the eyes? Now look at this miracle. Please have faith in what I say and go into the deeper profundity of this analogy of mine."

3. Sa ya esho'nima, aitad atmyam idam sarvam, tat satyam, sa atma, tat-tvam-asi, svetaketo, iti; bhuya eva ma, bhagavan, vijnapayatv-iti; tatha, saumya, iti hovacha.

This little so-called subtle essence is pervading the entire tree. How is it possible? How can an atomic little speck pervade the large expanse of the tree? Yet, there is nothing in this tree which is not in this little speck of jelly. The so-called large tree that you see there is nothing but whatever was contained in the invisible speck inside the seed. So is this vast universe. We say this universe is so large, so big or so unmanageable, so gross, so weighty. This is exactly like saying this tree is so big. But from where has it come? It has come from a very small, atomic, subtle Seed. That is the Being, the essence of the vast tree of this universe. So this Being, the essence of this whole universe, is the Self of the whole universe. This little jelly-like substance inside the little seed is the Self of this whole tree. It is the Atman of this banyan, because that has become all this, and outside it the tree does not exist. So it is the being of this tree. Even so is the Being of the whole universe including one's own self. "Tat-tvam-asi-you are that," says the father. We can tell every branch of the tree, "You are that essence," we can tell every leaf in the tree, "You are that essence," every fruit and flower in the tree, "You are that." And you will not be committing a mistake in saying that, because it is true. Even so we can say to every individual, "You are That," because all individuals have come from that indistinguishable, homogeneous Reality. "Bhuya eva ma bhagavan vijnapayatv-iti-please explain further," says the son. Another example is given by the father.

Section 13: The Indwelling Spirit (Continued)—Illustration of Salt and Water

1. Lavanam etad udake'vadhaya, atha ma pratar-upasidatha iti; sa ha tatha chakara; tam hovacha; yad-dosha lavanam udake'vadhah, anga tad-ahareti, taddhavamrsya na viveda; yatha vilinam evam.

"Bring a little salt and put it in a cup of water," said Uddalaka. The boy brought a cup of water and put some salt into it. "See me tomorrow morning," says the father. Sa ha tatha chakara-the boy does like that. Next morning the boy comes and greets the father and the father says, "Yesterday you put salt into the water; bring that salt." He goes there and sees that the salt is not there in the cup. What has happened to the salt? It has become one with the water. So he could not bring the salt.

2. Angasyantad-achameti, katham iti, lavanam iti, madhyad-achameti, katham iti, lavanam iti, antad-achameti, katham iti, lavanam iti, abhiprasyaitad-atha mopasidatha iti, taddha tatha chakara tac-chasvat samvartate; tam hovacha: atra vava kila sat, saumya, na nibhalayase, atraiva kila iti.

3. Sa ya esho'nimaitad-atmyam-idam sarvam tat-satyam sa atma tat-tvam-asi svetaketo iti, bhuya eva ma bhagavan vijnapayitu iti tatha saumya iti hovacha.

The boy says, "There is no salt in the water." Uddalaka says, "Now I shall prove that there is salt. You sip a little of the water from the top and tell me what the taste is." "It is saltish," says the boy. "You sip a little from the middle and tell me its taste." "It is salty." "You sip a little from any part of the water and see how it tastes." "All is salty." "So, now tell me, does the salt exist there or not?" "Yes, it does exist." "But you cannot see it, is it not?" "Yes, I cannot see it."

Now, this is a proof to show that though we cannot see a thing, it can exist. Because the salt is dissolved in water, the former cannot be seen through the eyes, but through some other means, the organ of taste, we can discover that it is there. The generality of the salt, which has become indistinguishable from the body of the water, cannot be visibly seen with the eyes, no doubt, but we can find out that the salt is there by tasting the water. By one means we cannot see it, but by another means we can. Similar is the case with the Being that has entered into the substance of all this creation. In the same way as we cannot see the salt in water but we can verify its existence by some other means, that is, by tasting, we cannot see this Being in the particulars of this world through our organs including the internal organ, as it is dissolved in the particulars, as it were. But, by employing another means, other than the organs and the mind, we can find out that this Being is in every particular. And then we will find that It is everywhere in the universe, just as salt is everywhere in the saline water. Wherever we touch, we touch That only, just as wherever we touch the water which is saline, we are touching salt only in that water.