Sakalya said: 'And in what dost thou (thy body) and the Self (thy heart) abide?' Yagnavalkya said: 'In the Prana (breath).' Sakalya said: 'In what does the Prana abide?' Yagnavalkya said: 'In the Apana (down-breathing).' Sakalya said: 'In what does the Apana abide?' Yagnavalkya said: 'In the Vyana (back-breathing).' Sakalya said: 'In what does the Vyana-abide?' Yagnavalkya said: 'In the Udana (the out-breathing).' Sakalya said: 'In what does the Udana abide?' Yagnavalkya said: 'In the Samana. That Self (atman) is to be described by No, no! He is incomprehensible, for he cannot be (is not) comprehended; he is imperishable, for he cannot perish; he is unattached, for he does not attach himself; unfettered, he does not suffer, he does not fail.' 'These are the eight abodes (the earth, &c.), the eight worlds (fire, &c.), the eight gods (the immortal food, &c.), the eight persons (the corporeal, &c.) He who after dividing and uniting these persons, went beyond (the Samana), that person, taught in the Upanishads, I now ask thee (to teach me). If thou shalt not explain him to me, thy head will fall.' Sakalya did not know him, and his head fell, nay, thieves took away his bones, mistaking them for something else.

In plain words: Yagnavalkya says body and self rest on the breath, and he names the five kinds of breath in a chain. The true Self can only be described as "not this, not this": it cannot be grasped, cannot die, clings to nothing, and does not suffer. He then asks Sakalya to explain the Self taught in the Upanishads. Sakalya cannot, and as warned, his head falls off.