The Upanishads, Part 1 (SBE01), by Max Müller, [1879], at sacred-texts.com
The Upanishads, Part 1 (SBE01), by Max Müller, [1879], at sacred-texts.com
1. 'Memory 1 (smara) is better than ether. Therefore where many are assembled together, if they have no memory, they would hear no one, they would not perceive, they would not understand. Through memory we know our sons, through memory our cattle. Meditate on memory.
2. 'He who meditates on memory as Brahman, is, as it were, lord and master as far as memory reaches;--he who meditates on memory as Brahman.'
'Sir, is there something better than memory?'
'Yes, there is something better than memory.'
'Sir, tell it me.'
119:1 The apparent distance between ether and memory is bridged over by the commentator pointing out that without memory everything would be as if it were not, so far as we are concerned.