III, 4, 24

24. This follows also from the connexion (of the stories with the vidyās) in one coherent whole.

And as thus the stories do not subserve the pāriplava it is appropriate to assume that they are meant to bring nearer to our understanding the approximate vidyās with which they are seen to form connected wholes; for they serve to render the latter more acceptable and facilitate their comprehension.

In the Maitreyī-brāhmaṇa we see that the story forms a whole with the vidyā beginning, 'The Self indeed is to be seen,' &c.; in the account of Pratardana with the vidyā, 'I am prāṇa, the conscious Self;' in the legend of Jānaśruti with the vidyā, 'Air indeed is the end of all.' The case of all these stories is analogous to that of stories met with in scriptural texts referring to works, whose purpose is the glorification of injunctions standing in proximity; as e.g. 'He cut out his own omentum.'--The stories under discussion therefore do not subserve the pāriplava.