lotus leaves, sprang a
lotus. On that lotus is established this universe. Salutations to thee in
thy form as lotus! Thou hast a thousand heads. Thou pervadest everything.
Thou art of immeasurable soul. Thou hast subjugated the four kinds of
desire that are as vast as the four oceans. Salutations to thee in thy
form of Yoga-sleep! The clouds are in the hair of thy head. The rivers
are in the several joints of thy limbs. The four oceans are in thy
stomach. Salutations to thee in thy form as water! Birth and the change
represented by death spring from thee. All things, again, at the
universal dissolution dissolve away in thee. Salutations to thy form as
cause! Thou sleepest not in the night. Thou art occupied in day time
also. Thou observest the good and the bad actions (of all). Salutations
to thee in thy form of (universal) observer! There is no act which thou
canst not do. Thou art, again, ever ready to accomplish acts that are
righteous. Salutations to thee in thy form of Work, the form, viz., which
is called Vaikuntha! In wrath thou hadst, in battle, exterminated thrice
seven times the Kshatriyas who had trampled virtue and authority under
their feet. Salutations to thee in thy form of Cruelty! Dividing thyself
into five portions thou hast become the five vital breaths that act
within everybody and cause every living creature to move. Salutations to
thee in thy form of air! Thou appearest in every Yuga in the form called
month and season and half-year and year, and art the cause of both
creation and dissolution. Salutations to thee in thy form of Time!
Brahmanas are thy mouth, Kshatriyas are thy two arms, Vaisyas are thy
stomach and thighs, and Sudras live in thy feet. Salutations to thee in
thy form of caste! Fire constitute thy mouth. The heavens are the crown
of thy head. The sky is thy navel. The earth is thy feet. The Sun is thy
eye. The points of the compass are thy ears. Salutations to thee in thy
form as the (three) worlds! Thou art superior to Time. Thou art superior
to Sacrifice. Thou art higher than the highest. Thyself without origin,
thou art the origin of the universe. Salutations to thee in thy form as
Universe! Men of the world, according to the attributes ascribed to thee
by the Vaiseshika theory, regard thee as the Protector of the world.
Salutations to thee in thy form of Protector! Assuming the forms of food,
drink, and fuel, thou increasest the humours and the life-breaths of
creatures and upholdes