ys praising Vishnu, who is without beginning and
without end or destruction, who is the Supreme Lord of all the worlds,
and who is the Master and Controller of the universe, one can succeed in
transcending all sorrow. Verily, He is devoted to the Brahmanas,
conversant with all duties and practices, the enhancer of the fame and
achievement of all persons, the master of all the worlds, exceedingly
wonderful, and the prime cause of the origin of all creatures. Even this,
in my judgment, is the foremost religion of all religions, viz., one
should always worship and hymn the praises of the lotus-eyed Vasudeva
with devotion. He is the highest Energy. He is the highest Penance. He is
the highest Brahma. He is the highest refuge. He is the most holy of all
holies, the most auspicious of all auspicious objects. He is the god of
all the gods and He is the immutable father of all creatures. On the
advent of the primal Yuga, all creatures spring from Him. On the
expiration, again of a Yuga, all things disappear in Him.[590] Hear, O
king, the thousand names, possessed of great efficacy in destroying sins,
of that foremost one in all the worlds that Master of the universe, viz.,
Vishnu. All those names derived from His attributes, secret and
well-known, of the high-souled Vasudeva which were sung by Rishis, I
shall recite to thee for the good of all. They are, Om! He that enters
all things, besides Himself, He that covers all things, He unto whom
sacrificial libations are poured, the Lord of the Past, the Present, and
the Future, the Creator (or Destroyer) of all existent things, the
upholder of all existent things, the Existent, the Soul of all, the
Originator of all things (I--IX); of cleansed Soul, the Supreme Soul, the
highest Refuge of all emancipated persons, the Immutable, He that lies
enclosed in a case, the Witness, He that knows the material case in which
He resides, the Indestructible (X--XVII);[591] He upon whom the mind
rests during Yoga-abstraction, the Guide or leader of all persons
conversant with Yoga, the Lord of both Pradhana (or Prakriti) and
Purusha. He that assumed a human form with a leonine head, He of handsome
features and equipments, He of beautiful hair, the foremost of Purushas
(XVIII--XXIV);[592] the embodiment of all things, the Destroyer of all
things, He that transcends the three attributes of Sattwa, Rajas and
Tamas, the Motionless, the Beginning of all things, the Receptacle into
which all things sink