The Story of Uddalaka
Vasishtha narrates to Rama the story of the sage Uddalaka, a young ascetic who withdraws to a cave on Gandhamadana mountain to meditate.
Vasishtha tells Rama to dissolve the five elements in meditation as Uddalaka once did, and Rama asks how. Uddalaka is introduced as a quiet, intelligent young ascetic who, troubled by worldly sorrow, longs for a state beyond bondage and rebirth. His mind keeps slipping back to the senses despite repeated attempts at meditation.
Wandering the mountain, he finds a hidden, undisturbed cave and settles there, rebuking his own mind for chasing pleasures that only lead to suffering, and reasoning through the senses one by one. He then interrogates his own identity, searching his body part by part for an 'I' and finding none, concluding he is pure consciousness distinct from body, ego, and mind. Sitting in meditation posture, he practices controlled breathing through the stages of the syllable Om, passing through visions of dissolution, fire, ash, a four-armed luminous form, and finally settling into steady, objectless awareness.
He becomes liberated while still living, unmoved by the celestial beings, powers, and heavenly women who come to tempt or honor him, and continues wandering at will for a long time, sometimes absorbed in trance for months or years. Eventually he resolves to leave the body, returns to meditation, and passes into the eternal, blissful, formless state, after which divine mothers and celestial maidens are said to gather at his mountain cave.
उद्दालको नाम मुनिर्मौनी मानी महामतिः । अप्राप्तयौवनः पूर्वमुवासोद्दामतापसः ॥ १३ ॥
A sage named Uddalaka lived there. He was silent, dignified, and of great wisdom. In earlier days, before he had come of age, he practiced fierce austerities.
उद्दालक नाम का एक ऋषि वहाँ रहता था। वह चुप रहने वाला, आत्मसम्मानी और बड़ी बुद्धि वाला था। पहले, जवानी आने से पहले ही, वह कठोर तप करता था।
पादाङ्गुष्ठाच्छिरो यावत्कणशः प्रविचारितम्। न लब्धोऽसावहं नाम कः स्यादहमिति स्थितः ॥ ३६ ॥
I looked bit by bit, from the big toe up to the head, and I could not find any I there. So who is it that stands here as I?
पैर के अंगूठे से लेकर सिर तक, एक-एक हिस्से की जाँच करने पर, मुझे कहीं कोई मैं नहीं मिला। तो फिर यहाँ मैं बनकर कौन खड़ा है?
उद्दालकस्तदारभ्य व्यवहारपरोऽपि सन् । सुसमाहित एवासौ चित्तत्त्वैकत्वमागतः ॥ ९० ॥
From that time on, Uddalaka, even while busy with worldly matters, stayed always well collected in mind, having reached oneness with the true nature of the mind.
उस समय से, उद्दालक सांसारिक कामों में लगे रहने पर भी हमेशा मन से पूरी तरह स्थिर रहते थे, क्योंकि वे मन के असली स्वभाव के साथ एक हो चुके थे।
Read it in full
The story runs through chapters 51–55 of Book 5. Each chapter has the Sanskrit in Devanagari and IAST beside a plain English and Hindi translation of every verse. The number under each chapter is its verse count.