5 February :
5 Feb 1896 : Lecture: "Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi" (Unity of the Self) in
NY - Part of Practical Vedanta - Yajnavalkya said to his wife, "My
beloved, here is all my money, and my possessions, and I am going away."
She replied, "Sir, if I had this whole earth full of wealth, would that
give me immortality?" Yajnavalkya said, "No, it will not. You will be
rich, and that will be all, but wealth
cannot give us immortality." She replied, "what shall I do to gain that
through which I shall become immortal? If you know, tell me."
Yajnavalkya replied, "You have been always my beloved; you are more
beloved now by this question. Come, take your seat, and I will tell you;
and when you have heard, meditate upon it." He said, "It is not for the
sake of the husband that the wife loves the husband, but for the sake
of the Âtman that she loves the husband, because she loves the Self.
None loves the wife for the sake of the wife; but it is because one
loves the Self that one loves the wife. None loves the children for the
children; but because one loves the Self, therefore one loves the
children. None loves wealth on account of the wealth; but because one
loves the Self, therefore one loves wealth. None loves the Brâhmin for
the sake of the Brahmin; but because one loves the Self, one loves the
Brahmin. So, none loves the Kshatriya for the sake of the Kshatriya, but
because one loves the Self. Neither does any one love the world on
account of the world, but because one loves the Self. None, similarly,
loves the gods on account of the gods, but because one loves the Self.
None loves a thing for that thing's sake; but it is for the Self that
one loves it. This Self, therefore, is to be heard, reasoned about, and
meditated upon. O my Maitreyi, when that Self has been heard, when that
Self has been seen, when that Self has been realised, then, all this
becomes known."
Join the year long 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda : sv150.org Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari
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