The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c40.s12.29

v2.c40.s12.29

Prajāpati utterly condemns³ the doctrine, derived allegedly from his teaching by the demon Virocana, which asserts that the man who consults his own desires in this life obtains both this world and the world to come; this view is described as devilish, naturally enough since it would have turned all against gifts to the priests or sacrifice. But we have instead the clear doctrine⁴ that the self is dearer even than a son, and that whatever is dear, be it wife, sons, wealth, the Brahman class, the Kṣatriya class, the gods, worlds, anything, is dear not for itself, but for the sake of the self or soul. We have here, not the psychological theory that things are desired for their pleasure, not for themselves, nor the suggestion that all love is ultimately self-love, but the recognition of the fact of the unity of the whole, which finds its truth in the self. Plainly, however, there is no attempt to develop a positive morality⁵ which would render empiric selfishness wrong on the score that it was based on a false distinction between self and not-self. On the contrary we find only emphasized throughout the necessity of caring for one's own salvation; Yājñavalkya abandons his faithful wives to seek the welfare of his soul, just as the Buddha abandons his young bride and his child, because they are hindrances to the attainment of release.