King Janaka performed a sacrifice. He assembled thousand cows, with gold tied to their horns. He said that the best Vedic scholar could take all the cows. Yajnavalkya asked his disciple to drive away the cows, said M.K. Srinivasan in a discourse. Asvala, a hotr priest in Janaka’s kingdom, asked Yajnavalkya if he were indeed the best Vedic scholar. Yajnavalkya taunted him, saying: “We salute you, the most learned of the Vedic scholars. I took the cows because I need them.” An angry Asvala then began to question Yajnavalkya. He asked how a sacrificer would be freed from death. What Asvala’s question meant was this: “Everything in the universe is pervaded by death. How then can a person who performs sacrifices with a view to attaining Brahma Vidya be liberated?” Yajnavalkya replied: “The hotr priest should be seen as Agni; speech as fire itself. When Karma is performed with this view, then when the sacrificer dies, he attains liberation.” Asvala then asked, “Everything is overtaken by day and night. So how can the sacrificer get beyond this?”
Yajnavalkya replied: “The adhvaryu priest should be seen as the eye, and as presided over by Aditya.” Asvala had many more questions for Yajnavalkya, all of which the sage answered convincingly. Svetaketu then asked Yajnavalkya two questions: “By what are the three worlds strung together and who is the internal ruler, if any, of the Universe?” Yajnavalkya replied: “Vaayu brings together the three worlds.” Yajnavalkya listed as many as 21 items — sun, moon, the five elements, indriyas, mind and soul in each of which Brahman resides, and controls each of them without their knowledge. This passage is known as Antaryami Brahmana. It is the basis for Visishtadvaita, which propagates qualified non-dualism.
