This is the sacred teaching of Brahman, the Upaniṣad cherished and upheld by the wise of ancient times. Whoever embraces it with faith, even if possessing nothing else, attains true well-being. Now, I will recount to you the verse infused with the power of Nārāyaṇa, and the dialogue that once took place between the sage Nārada and the eternal sage Nārāyaṇa himself. Once, Nārada, beloved of the Lord, was wandering through the worlds. In his travels, he came to the hermitage of Nārāyaṇa, seeking the company of that eternal sage. Nārāyaṇa, in the land of Bhārata, had performed austerities from the beginning of the age, for the welfare and good fortune of all people, practicing dharma, knowledge, and tranquility. There, in the village of Kalāpa, surrounded by sages, Nārada approached Nārāyaṇa with deep reverence and bowed before him. In the presence of those assembled sages, Nārada posed his question, and the Lord, as all listened attentively, began to speak. He shared the ancient doctrine of Brahman, once held by the residents of Janaloka. The Blessed Lord recounted: “Once, in Janaloka, the descendants of Svāyambhuva performed a great sacrifice to Brahman, attended by mind-born sages who were celibate and pure. At that time, you, Nārada, had gone to Śvetadvīpa to see its Lord. While you were away, the doctrine of Brahman was thoroughly discussed among those sages—where the very Vedas rest—and the very question you now ask me arose there. Those sages were equal in learning, austerity, and conduct, alike in their possessions, enemies, and friends. Some expounded the doctrine, while others listened with rapt attention. Then, Śrī Sanandana spoke: ‘Absorbing this creation into himself, he lay down, united with his energies. At the end of the cosmic cycle, the Vedas, with their distinguishing marks, awakened him, as if rousing him from sleep. Just as bards approach a sleeping king at dawn and awaken him with songs of his valor, so too did the Vedas, as his attendants, awaken him with noble hymns. The Vedas spoke: “Victory, victory, O Unborn, O Unconquered! Cast off the faults acquired through the qualities. By your very nature, you are the one in whom all powers are perfectly contained. You are the awakening of all energies in both the manifest and unmanifest worlds. Sometimes the Vedas follow you, yet when you move by your own inscrutable self, even they cannot reach you. This vast universe, though perceived as real, is ultimately understood by the wise to be insubstantial—just as the transformations of clay are nothing but clay itself. Therefore, sages fix their minds, words, and actions on you. How, then, could the footprints of men on earth be anything but unreal? O Lord of the three worlds, the wise, having plunged into the nectar-ocean of your stories—which destroy all impurities—abandon even their austerities. What, then, of those who, purified of all motives and desires, dwell in your own realm, worshipping your supreme abode and experiencing unbroken bliss? Just as the vital airs, though sustaining the body, move according to your will, so too did the great elements, beginning with fire, create the cosmic egg by your grace. The sequence of beings, from food onwards, is your manifestation, yet you are beyond both the real and the unreal; whatever remains is your immortal nature. Some, with limited vision, worship the lower path among sages, meditating on the heart as the way, and the subtle space within as the path. From there, O Infinite One, your supreme abode arises above the head, and those who reach it never fall again into the mouth of death. Entering various wondrous wombs as their cause, you shine forth in different degrees, like fire in many forms, according to the actions performed. Yet, in those free from false identification, your supreme abode is realized equally. Pure-minded ones follow you, the one taste, abandoning all diversity. In these bodies, which are your own creation, both inner and outer, you are called the Person, the bearer of all powers, present in every part. Thus, having examined the path of men and the end of the Vedas, the wise worship your feet on earth, trusting in you. Desiring to know the truth of the self, which is difficult to grasp, some, laboring in the ocean of your immortal deeds, do not even seek liberation, O Lord. Having abandoned their homes for the company of swan-like devotees at your lotus feet, they desire nothing else. Following your path, this flock of embodied beings moves as if with their own kin, friends, and beloveds, yet when they turn toward you, their true well-wisher and self, they find fulfillment. Alas, those who delight in false worship, harming themselves, wander in suffering, bearing heavy bodies, because of attachment. Those sages who, with controlled breath, mind, and senses, practice firm yoga and worship you in their hearts—even their enemies attain you by remembrance. Women whose minds are attached to the serpent king’s embrace, and we too, are equal, having tasted the nectar of your lotus feet. Who truly knows the beginning, end, or course of the one from whom the sage arose, and after whom the gods, celestial and otherwise, follow? Therefore, he is neither existent nor non-existent, nor both; nor is he subject to time. When he lies thus, no scripture can reach him. Those who teach that the soul is born, dies, or is different from the body, speak from ignorance, remembering only the apparent. The idea that the person is made of the three qualities arises from ignorance; in you, and beyond you, such distinctions have no place in true knowledge. Just as gold, though appearing in various forms, is not abandoned by those who know its essence, so too the knowers of the self perceive all this as the self, considering everything as their own being, and do not reject the transformations, for all is pervaded by you. Those who move about as your companions, as the abode of all beings, tread fearlessly even upon the head of death. You, O Lord, gather even the gods as a herdsman gathers cattle, and those who have made friendship with you truly purify, but not those who turn away. You are actionless, self-ruling, bearer of all creative powers. The gods, ever wakeful, offer you tribute and serve you equally, just as the arms serve the universal sovereign. The creators of the worlds, assigned by you, act with awe in your presence. The moving and unmoving species arise from the union of causes and the unborn; they act under your gaze, O Free One. Yet, when freed from that, there is no other, nor a second, for the Supreme; just as space, bearing all things, remains incomparable and empty. If embodied beings were truly unlimited and all-pervading, there would be no rule of authority over them—but that is not the case. And if what is born is made of that which is unborn, then without releasing that, the controller would remain, even as one accepts the equality of all; but to reject this view is to misunderstand. There can be no real origin for both Prakriti and Purusha, since both are uncreated; what arises from their union is unstable, like bubbles on water. In you, O Supreme, all these diverse names and qualities dissolve, just as rivers, with all their flavors, merge into the ocean. Among humans, those who, recognizing the intense delusion caused by your Maya, fix their minds on you, the source of all, develop ever-deepening devotion. How can fear of worldly existence persist for those who follow you, when even a mere frown from you repeatedly creates fear in those who seek shelter elsewhere, like blades of grass? Those who, here in this world, strive to control the restless mind—likened to an untamed horse—by force of the senses and breath, but neglect the feet of the Guru, are afflicted by countless miseries, like merchants on the ocean who abandon their helmsman and are lost at sea. When you exist, what value is there for people in relying on relatives, children, self, spouse, wealth, home, or chariots? For those who, ignorant of this, wander in pursuit of pleasure through union, who indeed finds happiness here, when their own share is denied and their own portion is lost? On earth, the sages, purified by visiting holy places and abodes, whose hearts are washed by the water from your lotus feet, who fix their minds even once on you—the eternal bliss within—never again seek the abodes of those who rob men of their true essence. If one says, ‘This arises from the existent,’ then such reasoning is flawed, for it is inconsistent and sometimes false, not truly combining both. For practical dealings, distinctions are made, but these are passed down blindly, and speech, with its elaborate forms, confuses those who are dull-witted from ritual recitation. What did not exist before, and will not exist after dissolution, and is limited in between, appears in you as a mere illusion of one taste. Therefore, it is compared to distinctions of wealth or caste, but the wise understand that the play of the mind is false and its nectar is illusory. When the soul, by association with the unborn, takes on qualities through contact with the uncreated, it attains similarity to that, and then, freed from death, is released from its portion. You, too, abandon that form, as a snake sheds its skin, and in your supreme, immeasurable glory, you are eightfold greater and beyond all measure. If ascetics do not uproot the tangle of desire from the heart, then you, difficult to attain for the unworthy, remain hidden in the heart, like a jewel forgotten at the throat. For those who are not satisfied in soul, there is suffering on both sides, O Lord, since they have not reached your state, free from death and firmly established. One who does not know you, the source of all auspicious and inauspicious things, cannot discern the qualities and faults arising from you, nor the words of embodied beings. Yet, in every age, O Lord with qualities, you are sung in unbroken succession, and those who hear of you are led toward liberation by human beings. Even the rulers of heaven could not reach your end, O Infinite One, nor could the groups of cosmic eggs, known as Sāvarṇas, that exist between you. Just as dust motes float in the sky with the wind, so too do the Vedas, along with time, pass away; but in you, they bear fruit, and by rejecting the unreal, they find their end in you.” The Blessed Lord concluded, “Thus, having heard this instruction from Brahma, his sons, the Siddhas, honored Sanandana, knowing the path of the Self.