Then Yagnavalkya questioned them with these Slokas: 1. 'As a mighty tree in the forest, so in truth is man, his hairs are the leaves, his outer skin is the bark. 2. 'From his skin flows forth blood, sap from the skin (of the tree); and thus from the wounded man comes forth blood, as from a tree that is struck. 3. 'The lumps of his flesh are (in the tree) the layers of wood, the fibre is strong like the tendons. The bones are the (hard) wood within, the marrow is made like the marrow of the tree. 4. 'But, while the tree, when felled, grows up again more young from the root, from what root, tell me, does a mortal grow up, after he has been felled by death? 5. 'Do not say, "from seed," for seed is produced from the living; but a tree, springing from a grain, clearly rises again after death. 6. 'If a tree is pulled up with the root, it will not grow again; from what root then, tell me, does a mortal grow up, after he has been felled by death? 7. 'Once born, he is not born (again); for who should create him again?' 'Brahman, who is knowledge and bliss, he is the principle, both to him who gives gifts, and also to him who stands firm, and knows.'

In plain words: Yagnavalkya compares a person to a tree: hair like leaves, skin like bark, blood like sap, bones like hard wood. A cut tree grows again from its root, but what root makes a person live again after death? The answer given is Brahman, the highest reality, which is knowledge and joy. It is the final support both for the one who gives to others and for the one who stands firm in knowing.