BṚHADĀRAṆYAKA UPANISHAD · 1.4.15
तद् एतद् ब्रह्म क्षत्रं विट् शूद्रः ।
तद् अग्निनैव देवेषु ब्रह्माभवद् ब्राह्मणो मनुष्येषु, क्षत्रियेण क्षत्रियः, वैश्येन वैश्यः, शूद्रेण शूद्रः ।
तस्माद् अग्नाव् एव देवेषु लोकम् इच्छन्ते ब्राह्मणे मनुष्येषु ।
एताभ्यां हि रूपाभ्यां ब्रह्माभवत् ।
अथ यो ह वा अस्माल् लोकात् स्वं लोकम् अदृष्ट्वा प्रैति स एनम् अविदितो न भुनक्ति यथा वेदो वाननूक्तो ऽन्यद् वा कर्माकृतम् ।
यदि ह वा अप्य् अनेवंविन् महत्पुण्यं कर्म करोति तद् धास्यान्ततः क्षीयत एव ।
आत्मानम् एव लोकम् उपासीत ।
स य आत्मानम् एव लोकम् उपास्ते न हास्य कर्म क्षीयते ।
अस्माद् ध्य् एवात्मनो यद्यत् कामयते तत्तत् सृजते ॥
tad etad brahma kṣatraṃ viṭ śūdraḥ ।
tad agninaiva deveṣu brahmābhavad brāhmaṇo manuṣyeṣu, kṣatriyeṇa kṣatriyaḥ, vaiśyena vaiśyaḥ, śūdreṇa śūdraḥ ।
tasmād agnāv eva deveṣu lokam icchante brāhmaṇe manuṣyeṣu ।
etābhyāṃ hi rūpābhyāṃ brahmābhavat ।
atha yo ha vā asmāl lokāt svaṃ lokam adṛṣṭvā praiti sa enam avidito na bhunakti yathā vedo vānanūkto ’nyad vā karmākṛtam ।
yadi ha vā apy anevaṃvin mahatpuṇyaṃ karma karoti tad dhāsyāntataḥ kṣīyata eva ।
ātmānam eva lokam upāsīta ।
sa ya ātmānam eva lokam upāste na hāsya karma kṣīyate ।
asmād dhy evātmano yadyat kāmayate tattat sṛjate ॥
There are then this Brahman, Kshatra, Vis, and Sûdra. Among the Devas that Brahman existed as Agni (fire) only, among men as Brâhmana, as Kshatriya through the (divine) Kshatriya, as Vaisya through the (divine) Vaisya, as Sûdra through the (divine) Sûdra. Therefore people wish for their future state among the Devas through Agni (the sacrificial fire) only; and among men through the Brâhmana, for in these two forms did Brahman exist. Now if a man departs this life without having seen his true future life (in the Self), then that Self, not being known, does not receive and bless him, as if the Veda had not been read, or as if a good work had not been done. Nay, even if one who does not know that (Self), should perform here on earth some great holy work, it will Perish for him in the end. Let a man worship the Self only as his true state. If a man worships the Self only as his true state, his work does not Perish, for whatever he desires that he gets from that Self.
F. Max Müller · The Upanishads, Sacred Books of the East 15 (1884)