Thou art the Sun. Thou art the Dikgajas (Elephants) that are sanctioned in the four cardinal points of the compass. Thou illuminest the cardinal points of the compass. Thou illuminest the subsidiary points also. Thou art the Equine head. Thou art the first three mantras of the Rig Veda. Thou art the protector of the several orders of men (viz., Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras). Thou art the five fires (beginning with Garhapatya). Thou art He who has thrice ignited the sacrificial fire called Nachi.[1822] Thou art the refuge of the six limbs (viz., the Vedas).[1823] Thou art the foremost of those Brahmanas that are employed in singing the Samans in sacrifices and other religious rites. Thou art Pragjyotish, and thou art he who sings the first Saman.[1824] Thou art the observer of those vows that depend upon the Vedas and that are observed by singers of Samanas. Thou art the embodiment of the Upanishad, called by the name of Atharvasiras. Thou art he who is the topic of the five foremost of scriptures (viz., those that appertain to the worship of Surya, of Sakti, of Ganesa, of Siva, and of Vishnu). Thou art called the preceptor that subsists only on the froth of water. Thou art a Valikhilya.[1825] Thou art the embodiment of him who has not fallen away from Yoga. Thou art the embodiment of correctness of judgment of reasoning. Thou art the beginning of the Yugas, thou art the middle of the Yugas and thou art their end. Thou art Akhandala (Indra). Thou art the two Rishis Prachina-garbha and Kausika. Thou art Purusthuta, thou art Puruhuta, thou art the artificer of the universe. Thou hast the universe for thy form. Thy motions are infinite. Thy bodies are infinite; thou art without end and without beginning, and without middle. Thy middle is unmanifest. Thy end is unmanifest. Thou hast vows for thy abode. Thou residest in the ocean. Thou hast thy home in Fame, in Penances, in Self-restraint, in Prosperity, in Knowledge, in grand Achievements, and in Everything belonging to the universe. Thou art Vasudeva. Thou art the grantor of every wish. Thou art Hanuman that bore Rama on his shoulders.
Thou art the great Horse-sacrifice. Thou takest thy share of offerings made in great sacrifices.[1826] Thou art the grantor of boons, of happiness, of wealth. Thou art devoted to Hari., Thou art Restraint of the senses. Thou art vows and observances. Thou art mortifications, thou art severe mortifications, thou art very severe mortifications.[1827] Thou art he who observes vows and religious and other pious rites. Thou art freed from all errors. Thou art a Brahmacharin. Thou tookest birth in the womb of Prisni. Thou art he from whom have flowered all Vedic rites and acts. Thou art unborn. Thou pervadest all things. Thy eyes are on all things. Thou must not be apprehended by the senses. Thou art not subject to deterioration. Thou art possessed of great puissance. Thy body is inconceivably vast. Thou art holy, thou art beyond the ken of logic or argument. Thou art unknowable. Thou art the foremost of Causes. Thou art the Creator of all creatures and thou art their destroyer. Thou art the possessor of vast powers of illusion. Thou art called Chittrasikhandin. Thou art the giver of boons. Thou art the taker of thy share of the sacrificial offerings. Thou hast obtained the merit of all sacrifices. Thou art he who has been freed from all doubts, Thou art omnipresent. Thou art of the form of a Brahmana. Thou art fond of Brahmanas. Thou hast the universe for thy form. Thy form is very vast. Thou art the greatest friend. Thou art kind to all thy worshippers. Thou art the great deity of the Brahmanas. I am thy devoted disciple. I am desirous of beholding thee. Salutations to thee that art of the form of Emancipation.'”
SECTION CCCXL
“Bhishma said, ‘Thus hymned with names that were not known to others, the Divine Narayana having the universe for his form showed himself to the ascetic Narada. His form was somewhat purer than the moon and differed from the moon in some respects. He somewhat resembled a blazing fire in complexion. The puissant Lord was somewhat of the form of Vishti.[1828] He resembled in some respects the feathers of the parrot, and in some a mass of pure crystal. He resembled in some respects a hill of antimony and in some a mass of pure gold. His complexion somewhat resembled the coral when first formed, and was somewhat white. In some respects that complexion resembled the hue of gold and in some that of the lapis lazuli. In some respects it resembled the hue of the blue lapis lazuli and in some that of sapphire. In some respects it resembled the hue of the peacock’s neck, and in some that of a string of pearls. Bearing these diverse kinds of hues on his person, the eternal Deity appeared before Narada. He had a thousand eyes and was possessed of great beauty. He had a hundred heads and a hundred feet. He had a thousand stomachs and a thousand arms.
He seemed to be still inconceivable to the mind. With one of his mouths he uttered the syllable Om and then the Gayatri following Om. With mind under complete control, the great Deity, called by the names of Hari and Narayana, by his other mouths, multitudinous in number, uttered many mantras from the four Vedas which are known by the name of Aranyaka. The Lord of all the deities, the great God who is adorned in sacrifices, held in his hands a sacrificial altar, a Kamandalu, few white gems, a pair of sandal, a bundle of Kusa blades, a deer-skin, a toothstick, and a little blazing fire.[1829] With cheerful soul, that foremost of regenerate persons, viz., Narada of restraining speech, bowed unto the great God and adored Him. Unto him whose head was still bent low in veneration, the first of all the deities, who is free from deterioration, said the following words.
“‘The Holy one said, The great Rishis, Ekata, Dwita, and Trita, came to this realm from desire of obtaining a sight of me. They, however, were unable to have the fruition of their wishes. Nor can any one have a sight of me save those persons that are devoted to me with their whole hearts. As regards thee, thou art verily the foremost of all persons devoted to me with all their souls. These are my bodies, the best ones that I assume. These were born, O regenerate one, in the house of Dharma. Do thou worship them always, and do thou perform those rites that are laid down in the ordinances with respect to that worship. O Brahmana, do thou ask of me the boons thou desirest. I am gratified with thee to-day, and I appear unto thee now in my universal form as freed from decay and deterioration.
“Narada said, Since, O holy one, I have today succeeded in obtaining a sight of thee. I regard that I have won without any delay the fruits of my penances, O God, of my self-restraint, and of all the vows and observances that I have gone through. This, indeed, is the highest boon thou hast granted me for thou hast shown thyself to me today. O Eternal Lord, Thou, O holy one, hast the universe for thy eye. Thou art the Lion. Thy form is identifiable with everything. Possessed of puissance, thou, O Lord, art vast and infinite.
Bhishma continued, ‘Having thus shown Himself unto Narada, the son of Parameshthi, the great God addressed that ascetic and said,–Go hence, O Narada, and do not delay! These worshippers of mine, possessed of lunar complexions, are divested of all senses and do not subsist upon any kind of food. They are, again, all Emancipate; with minds wholly concentrated upon Me, people should think of Me. Such worshippers will never meet with any impediments. These men are all crowned with ascetic success and are highly blessed. In ancient times they became entirely devoted to me. They have been freed from the attributes of Rajas and Tamas. Without doubt, they are competent to enter me and become merged into my Self.–He that cannot be seen with the eye, touched with the sense of touch, smelt with the sense of scent, and that is beyond the ken of the sense of taste. He whom the three attributes of Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas do not touch, who pervades all things and is the one Witness of the universe, and who is described as the Soul of the entire universe; He who is not destroyed upon the destruction of the bodies of all created things, who is unborn and unchangeable and eternal, who is freed from all attributes, who is indivisible and entire; He who transcends the twice twelve topics of enquiry and is regarded the Twenty-fifth, who is called by the name of Purusha, who is inactive, and who is said to be apprehended by Knowledge alone, He into whom the foremost of the regenerate persons enter and become emancipate. He who is the eternal Supreme Soul and is known by the name of Vasudeva.
Behold, O Narada, the greatness and puissance of God. He is never touched by acts good or bad. Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, are said to be the three (original) attributes. These dwell and act in the bodies of all creatures. The Jiva-soul, called Kshetrajna, enjoys and endorse the action of these three attributes. He, however, transcends them and they cannot touch Him. Freed from these attributes, He is again their enjoyer and endorser. Having created them Himself, He is above them all. O celestial Rishi, the Earth, which is the refuge of the universe, disappears[1830] (when the hour for universal dissolution comes) into water, Water disappears into Light, and Light into Wind, Wind disappears into Space, and Space into Mind. Mind is a great creature, and it disappears into Unmanifest Prakriti. Unmanifest Prakriti, O Brahmana, disappears into inactive Purusha. There is nothing higher than Purusha which is Eternal. There is nothing among mobile and immobile things in the universe that is immutable, except Vasudeva, the eternal Purusha. Endued with great puissance, Vasudeva is the Soul of all creatures. Earth, Wind, Space, Water, and Light forming the fifth, the primal elements of great puissance.
