That Thou Art

The sages told the Pandavas of the sage Uddalaka Aruni and his son Shvetaketu - a tale of how a father humbled the pride of a learned son, and led him from the knowledge of words to the knowledge of the one Self that is the ground of all that is.

Uddalaka Aruni was a sage of great learning, and he had a son named Shvetaketu. When the boy was twelve years old, his father sent him away to a teacher to study the sacred lore, as was the custom; and Shvetaketu studied diligently for twelve years, until at the age of twenty-four he returned home having learned all the Vedas. But he came back conceited and proud of his learning, thinking himself very wise and well-read, holding his head high, considering himself a great scholar who knew all there was to know. His father saw at once the pride in him, and saw too that for all his book-learning the boy had missed the one thing most worth knowing.