The Everlasting Nay

Brahma Knowledge, by L. D. Barnett, [1911], at sacred-texts.com

IX. The Everlasting Nay ¹

Verily this great unborn Self it is that is compact of understanding amid the life-breaths, that lies in the ether within the heart, master of all, lord of all, ruler of all; He becomes not greater by a good deed nor less by an ill deed; He is king of all, ruler of born beings, guardian of born beings, the dyke holding asunder these worlds that they fall not one into another. Brahmans seek to know Him by reading the Veda, by sacrifice, by charity, by mortification. Knowing

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[paragraph continues] Him, a man becomes a saint; wandering friars wander forth seeking Him for their world. Understanding this, the ancients desired not offspring: "What is offspring to us who have this Self for this world?" So having departed from desire of sons, from desire of substance, and desire of the world, they went about begging. For desire of sons is desire of substance, desire of substance is desire of the world; these are both desires.

This Self is Nay, Nay: not to be grasped, for He is not grasped; not to be broken, for He is not broken; unclinging, for He clings not; He is not bound, He trembles not, He takes no hurt. One [who knows this] is overcome neither by having done evil for His sake nor by having done good for His sake; he overcomes both; work done and work not done grieve him not.

This is said by a verse:

Footnotes

74:1 Bṛihad-āraṇyaka Upanishad, IV. iv. 22-23.