Section CCCXXXIX

"Bhishma said, 'Arrived at the spacious realm called White Island, the illustrious Rishi beheld those same white men possessed of lunar splendour (of whom I have already spoken to you). Worshipped by them, the Rishi worshipped them in return by bending his head and reverencing them in his mind.^[1] Desirous of beholding Narayana, he began to reside there, attentively engaged in the silent recitation of mantras, sacred to him, and observant of vows of the most difficult kind, with concentrated mind, the regenerate Rishi, with arms upraised, stood in Yoga, and then sang the following hymn unto the Lord of the universe, Him, viz., who is at once the soul of attributes and divested of all attributes.

"Narada said, Salutations to you, O God of gods, O you that art freed from all acts! You are he who is divested of all attributes, who is the Witness of all the worlds, who is called Kshetrajna, who is the foremost of all Beings, who is Infinite, who is called Purusha, who is the great Purusha, who is the foremost of all Purushas, who is the soul of the three attributes, who is called the Foremost, who is Amrita (nectar), who is called Immortal, who is called Ananta (Sesha), who is Space,^[2] who is without beginning, who is both Manifest and Unmanifest as existent and not-existent things, who is said to have his home in Truth,^[3] who is the first of gods (Narayana), who is the giver of wealth (or of the fruits of acts), identified with Daksha and other Lords of the Creation, who is the Asvattha and other big trees, who is the four-headed Brahman, who is the Lord of all created Beings, who is the Lord of Speech,^[4] who is the Lord of the universe (or Indra), who is the all-pervading Soul, who is the Sun, who is the breath called Prana, who is the Lord of the waters (viz., Varuna), who is identifiable with the Emperor or the King, who is identifiable with the Regents of the several points of the compass, who is the refuge of the universe when it is dissolved in the final destruction,^[5] who is Undisplayed (unrevealed), who is the giver of the Vedas unto Brahman, who is identifiable with the sacrifices and Vedic studies achieved by Brahmanas with the aid of their bodies, who is identifiable with the four principal orders of the deities, who is every one of those four orders, who is possessed of effulgence, who is possessed of great effulgence, who is he unto whom the seven largest offerings in sacrifices are presented with the Gayatri and other sacred mantras, who is Yama, who is Citragupta and the other attendants of Yama, who is called the wife of Yama, who is that order of the deities called Tushita, who is that other order called Mahatushita, who is the universal grinder (Death), who is desire and all diseases that have been created for aiding the advent of Death, who is health and freedom from disease, who is subject to desire and passions, who is free from the influence of desire and passions, who is Infinite as exhibited in species and forms, who is he that is chastised, who is he that is the chastiser, who is all the lesser sacrifices (like Agnihotra and others), who is all the larger sacrifices (like those called Brahma, etc.), who is all the Ritwijas, who is the origin of all sacrifices (viz., the Vedas), who is fire, who is the very heart of all sacrifices (viz., the mantras and hymns uttered in them), who is he that is hymned in sacrifices, who takes those shares of the sacrificial offerings that are presented to him, who is the embodiment of the five sacrifices, who is the maker of the five sections or divisions of time (viz., day, night, month, season and year), who is incapable of being understood except by those scriptures that are called Pancaratra, who never shrinks from anything, who is unvanquished, who is only Mind (without a physical frame), who is known only by name, who is the Lord of Brahman himself, who has completed all the vows and observances mentioned in the Vedas,^[6] who is the Hansa (bearer of the triple stick), who is the Parama-hansa (divested of stick), who is the foremost of all sacrifices, who is Sankhya-yoga, who is the embodiment of the Sankhya philosophy, who dwells in all Jivas, who lives in every heart, who resides in every sense, who floats on the ocean-water, who lives in the Vedas, who lies on the lotus (the image of the egg whence the universe has sprung), who is the Lord of the universe, and whose troops go everywhere for protecting his worshippers. You takest birth as all creatures. You are the origin of the universe (of all creatures). Your mouth is fire. You are that fire which courses through the waters of the ocean, issuing out all the while from an Equine head. You are the sanctified butter that is poured into the sacrificial fire. You are the car-driver (fire or heat that impels the body and causes it to live and grow). You are Vashat. You are the syllable Om. You are Penances. You are Mind. You are Candramas. You sanctifiest the sacrificial butter. You are the Sun. You are the Dikgajas (Elephants) that are sanctioned in the four cardinal points of the compass. You illuminest the cardinal points of the compass. You illuminest the subsidiary points also. You are the Equine head. You are the first three mantras of the Rig Veda. You are the protector of the several orders of men (viz., Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras). You are the five fires (beginning with Garhapatya). You are He who has thrice ignited the sacrificial fire called Nachi.^[7] You are the refuge of the six limbs (viz., the Vedas).^[8] You are the foremost of those Brahmanas that are employed in singing the Samans in sacrifices and other religious rites. You are Pragjyotish, and you are he who sings the first Saman.^[9] You are the observer of those vows that depend upon the Vedas and that are observed by singers of Samanas. You are the embodiment of the Upanishad, called by the name of Atharvasiras. You are 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). You are called the preceptor that subsists only on the froth of water. You are a Valikhilya.^[10] You are the embodiment of him who has not fallen away from Yoga. You are the embodiment of correctness of judgment of reasoning. You are the beginning of the Yugas, you are the middle of the Yugas and you are their end. You are Akhandala (Indra). You are the two Rishis Prachina-garbha and Kausika. You are Purusthuta, you are Puruhuta, you are the artificer of the universe. You have the universe for your form. Your motions are infinite. Your bodies are infinite; you are without end and without beginning, and without middle. Your middle is unmanifest. Your end is unmanifest. You have vows for your abode. You residest in the ocean. You have your home in Fame, in Penances, in Self-restraint, in Prosperity, in Knowledge, in grand Achievements, and in Everything belonging to the universe. You are Vasudeva. You are the grantor of every wish. You are Hanuman that bore Rama on his shoulders. You are the great Horse-sacrifice. You takest your share of offerings made in great sacrifices.^[11] You are the grantor of boons, of happiness, of wealth. You are devoted to Hari., You are Restraint of the senses. You are vows and observances. You are mortifications, you are severe mortifications, you are very severe mortifications.^[12] You are he who observes vows and religious and other pious rites. You are freed from all errors. You are a Brahmacarin. You tookest birth in the womb of Prisni. You are he from whom have flowered all Vedic rites and acts. You are unborn. You pervadest all things. Your eyes are on all things. You must not be apprehended by the senses. You are not subject to deterioration. You are possessed of great puissance. Your body is inconceivably vast. You are holy, you are beyond the ken of logic or argument. You are unknowable. You are the foremost of Causes. You are the Creator of all creatures and you are their destroyer. You are the possessor of vast powers of illusion. You are called Cittrasikhandin. You are the giver of boons. You are the taker of your share of the sacrificial offerings. You have obtained the merit of all sacrifices. You are he who has been freed from all doubts, You are omnipresent. You are of the form of a Brahmana. You are fond of Brahmanas. You have the universe for your form. Your form is very vast. You are the greatest friend. You are kind to all your worshippers. You are the great deity of the Brahmanas. I am your devoted disciple. I am desirous of beholding you. Salutations to you that art of the form of Emancipation.'"