Vishnupurana 2.13.p12

2.13.p12

"If by these instruments speech can utter the word 'I' it is not at all proper to say that speech itself is ‘I.' O king, the body of a man having hands, feet and other limbs is composed of various parts: to what part shall we apply the word ‘I'? If another being had existed in this body quite different from me, then it may be said, O king, that this is I, that is the other; while one soul inhabits the whole body, then such questions as 'Who are you? Who am I?' are useless. Thou art a monarch; this is a palanquin: these are the bearers: these are thy followers; yet it is untrue that these are thine. This palanquin, in which thou art seated, is made of timber got from trees. Then tell me, what name, tree, timber or palanquin, shall be applied to it, O king. The people shall not say that their monarch is seated on a tree or on a timber but they shall say that he is in the palanquin. The artificial assemblage of the pieces of timber is called the palanquin: judge yourself, therefore, O king, in what the palanquin differs from the wood. Again consider the sticks of the umbrella, in their separate state. What then is the umbrella? Apply this argument to thee and to me. A man, a woman, a cow, a goat, a horse, an elephant, a bird, a tree, are names given to various bodies, which they assume on account of their primitive actions. Man is neither a god, nor a man, nor a beast, nor a tree: these are the various shapes which he assumes on account of his acts. O king, your name is Vasuraja and another name is Rajabhat—besides you have got various other names—but none of these names is real and is nothing but the work of imagination. And what thing is there in the world, O king, which being subject to changes, does not in the course of time, go by different names? You are called the king of the world, the son of your father, the enemy of your foes, the husband of your wife, the father of your children, what name the shall I apply to you? What is your situation? Are you the head or the belly? Or are they yours? Are you the feet or are they yours? You are, O king, separate in nature from the members of your body. Then considering properly, do you think who I am. And since the truth has been got at, how is it possible for me to recognize the distinction and to apply to my individual the expression 'I'".