A story · Upanishads · Brihadaranyaka · The Debate at Janaka's Court

Gargi Questions Yajnavalkya

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.6

The story · English

Then Gargi Vachaknavi stepped forward to question Yajnavalkya. She began with something nobody would argue with. "Yajnavalkya," she said, "this whole world is woven on water, the way cloth is woven on its threads, the long ones and the cross ones together. So tell me, what is the water woven on?" He answered without any hesitation. "On wind, Gargi." She did not stop to weigh the answer or to praise it. "Then what is the wind woven on?" "On the worlds of the atmosphere, Gargi." Each reply was short and plain, and each one gave her the next thing to ask. "And the worlds of the atmosphere," she said, "what are they woven on?" Yajnavalkya had his answer ready. Gargi was already waiting for what lay underneath it.

"On the worlds of the Gandharvas, Gargi," Yajnavalkya said. The Gandharvas are the heavenly singers and musicians, and their worlds sit above the open air of the atmosphere. It was a good answer, and it took them one step higher. Gargi accepted it the same way she had accepted the others, by asking the very next thing. "Then what are the worlds of the Gandharvas woven on?" "On the worlds of the sun, Gargi." He did not explain or argue. He simply named the next layer, as if the threads ran upward one into another and he could see each of them. Gargi kept her voice level and her question exactly the same. "And the worlds of the sun," she asked, "what are those woven on?" She was in no hurry, and neither was he.

"On the worlds of the moon, Gargi," said Yajnavalkya. So the ladder went on climbing, from the sun to the moon. Gargi did not change her words at all. That was her method: the same question, patiently, each time on the answer she had just been given. "Then what are the worlds of the moon woven on?" "On the worlds of the stars, Gargi." By now they had gone from water to wind, from wind to the open air, from the air to the singers of heaven, and on past the sun and the moon to the stars. Yajnavalkya had not once said that he did not know. Gargi had not once let an answer stand without asking what held it up. "And the worlds of the stars," she said. "What are they woven on?"

"On the worlds of the gods, Gargi," he answered. She asked again, as calmly as before. "Then what are the worlds of the gods woven on?" "On the worlds of Indra, Gargi." Indra is the king of the gods, so this went one step above the gods themselves. Gargi was not finished. "Then what are the worlds of Indra woven on?" "On the worlds of Prajapati, Gargi." Prajapati is the lord of creatures, the one from whom living things come. They were very high now, close to the top of everything that could be named. Still Gargi asked the same question in the same plain way, as though nothing about it had grown heavier. "And the worlds of Prajapati," she said, "what are they woven on?"

"On the worlds of Brahman, Gargi," said Yajnavalkya. There was nothing higher to name. Gargi asked anyway, exactly as she had asked every time before. "Then what are the worlds of Brahman woven on?" This time Yajnavalkya did not give her another layer. "Gargi," he said, "don't ask too much, or your head will fall off. You are asking too much about a divinity that further questions cannot reach. Gargi, don't ask beyond the limit." He did not say she had been foolish to come this far. He only told her that here the questions had to stop, because what she was asking about was not one more thread among the others. Then Gargi Vachaknavi said nothing more, and kept her peace.

कथा · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: The Thousand Cows at Janaka's Court · Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.1
• Next: Gargi's Two Arrows · Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.8
• All of Upanishads · Ask Krishna about it

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