'As a lump of salt, when thrown into water, becomes dissolved into water, and could not be taken out again, but wherever we taste (the water) it is salt,—thus verily, O Maitreyi, does this great Being, endless, unlimited, consisting of nothing but knowledge, rise from out these elements, and vanish again in them. When he has departed, there is no more knowledge (name), I say, O Maitreyi.' Thus spoke Yagnavalkya.

In plain words: Salt dropped in water dissolves and cannot be taken out again, yet every drop tastes salty. In the same way, the endless great Being, made of pure awareness, fills everything. It seems to arise in the body and the elements and to vanish with them. After death, Yajnavalkya says, there is no separate awareness left.