"'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 thee). Worshipped by them,
the Rishi worshipped them in return by bending his head and reverencing
them in his mind.[1816] 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 thee, O God of gods, O thou that art freed
from all acts! Thou art 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,[1817] 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,[1818] 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 Aswattha and other big trees, who is the four-headed Brahman,
who is the Lord of all created Beings, who is the Lord of Speech,[1819]
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,[1820] 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 Chitragupta 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 Pancharatra, 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,[1821] 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. Thou takest birth as
all creatures. Thou art the origin of the universe (of all creatures).
Thy mouth is fire. Thou art that fire which courses through the waters of
the ocean, issuing out all the while from an Equine head. Thou art the
sanctified butter that is poured into the sacrificial fire. Thou art the
car-driver (fire or heat that impels the body and causes it to live and
grow). Thou art Vashat. Thou art the syllable Om. Thou art Penances. Thou
art Mind. Thou art Chandramas. Thou sanctifiest the sacrificial butter.
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."'"