हिन्दी
Prajāpati said - ‘Look at yourselves in a vessel full of water. If you have any doubts about the Self, then let me know.’ They then looked at themselves in the water, and Prajāpati asked - ‘What do you see?’ They replied - ‘We see the reflection of our whole self, including even our hair and nails’.
Prajāpati said to them - ‘After getting well-dressed and putting on fine clothes and making yourselves neat and clean, then look into the pan of water.’ So, the two of them got well-dressed in fine clothes, and made themselves neat and clean. Then they looked into the water. Prajāpati asked - ‘What do you see?’
The two of them said - ‘Revered sir, just as we are well-dressed in fine clothes, and neat and clean, in the same way, these two reflections are well-dressed in fine clothes, and neat and clean.’ Prajāpati said - ‘That is the Self. It is immortal and fearless. It is Brahman.’ The two of them left then, happy in mind.
Seeing them leave, Prajāpati said to himself - ‘They are going without realizing or knowing anything about the Self. Anyone among them, whether a god or an asura, who will understand the teaching this way (thinking the body to be the Self) will be lost.’ Virocana, the king of the asuras, went back to the asuras, happy in mind and explained to them the upaniṣad.
This is why in this world even today people say - ‘Oh, he is an asura,’ if that person is devoid of the feeling of charity, has no respect for others, and never cares to perform a sacrifice, because the asuras have the idea that the body is the Self. When a person dies, they decorate the body with all kinds of offerings, new clothes, and jewellery, for they think that by this, the person will conquer the other world.
