Within the bodies of all beings—both their inner and outer forms, which are but manifestations of the Lord’s own creative power—the Supreme Person abides, bearing all potencies and present in every aspect. Recognizing this, the wise, after examining the ways of humanity and the ultimate teachings of the Vedas, worship the Lord’s feet upon the earth, placing their trust solely in Him. Some, desiring to know the elusive truth of the self, immerse themselves in the vast ocean of the Lord’s immortal deeds. These seekers, forsaking even the pursuit of liberation, abandon their homes to dwell among swan-like devotees at the Lord’s lotus feet, longing for nothing else. Following the Lord’s path, embodied beings move through life in the company of their kin, friends, and beloveds. Yet, when they turn toward the Lord—their true well-wisher and innermost self—they find true fulfillment. Those who delight in false worship, harming themselves through attachment, wander in suffering, burdened by heavy bodies. Sages who practice steadfast yoga, controlling breath, mind, and senses, worship the Lord within their hearts. Even their enemies, by remembering them, attain the Lord. Women whose minds are absorbed in the embrace of the serpent king, and others too, are equal, having tasted the nectar of the Lord’s lotus feet. Who can truly know the beginning, end, or course of the One from whom the sage emerged, and whom all gods follow? He is neither existent nor non-existent, nor both, and is untouched by time. When He lies thus, no scripture can reach Him. Those who claim the soul is born, dies, or is different from the body, speak from ignorance, perceiving only what appears. The notion that the Person is made of the three qualities arises from ignorance; in the Lord and beyond Him, 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 as the self, considering everything as their own being. They do not reject the transformations, for all is pervaded by the Lord. Those who move as companions of the Lord, the abode of all beings, tread fearlessly even upon the head of death. The Lord gathers even the gods, as a herdsman gathers cattle, and those who have befriended Him are truly purified, unlike those who turn away. The Lord is actionless, self-ruling, and bearer of all creative powers. The gods, ever wakeful, offer tribute and serve Him as the arms serve the universal sovereign. The creators of worlds, assigned by Him, act with awe in His presence. All species, moving and unmoving, arise from the union of causes and the unborn, acting under the Lord’s gaze. 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 authority over them—but this is not so. And if what is born is made from the unborn, then, without releasing that, the controller would remain, even as one accepts equality of all. To reject this view is mistaken understanding. 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 the Supreme, all diverse names and qualities dissolve, just as rivers merge into the ocean. Among humans, those who recognize the intense delusion caused by the Lord’s Maya and fix their minds on Him, the source of all, develop ever-deepening devotion. How can fear of worldly existence persist for those who follow Him, when even a mere frown from Him repeatedly creates fear in those who seek shelter elsewhere, like blades of grass? Those who strive to control the restless mind—like an untamed horse—by force of senses and breath, but neglect the Guru’s feet, are afflicted by countless miseries, like merchants lost at sea who abandon their helmsman. When the Lord exists, what value is there for people in relying on relatives, children, self, spouse, wealth, home, or chariots? Those who, ignorant of this, wander in pursuit of pleasure through union, find no happiness, for their own share is denied and their own portion lost. On earth, sages purified by visiting holy places and abodes, whose hearts are washed by the water from the Lord’s lotus feet, who fix their minds even once on Him—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,” such reasoning is flawed, inconsistent and sometimes false, not truly combining both. For practical dealings, distinctions are made, but these are passed down blindly; speech, with its elaborate forms, confuses those dulled by ritual recitation. What did not exist before, will not exist after dissolution, and is limited in between, appears in the Lord as a mere illusion of one taste. Thus, it is compared to distinctions of wealth or caste, but the wise understand the play of the mind is false and its nectar illusory. When the soul, by association with the unborn, takes on qualities through contact with the uncreated, it attains similarity, and then, freed from death, is released from its portion. The Lord too abandons that form, as a snake sheds its skin, and in His supreme, immeasurable glory, He is eightfold greater and beyond all measure. If ascetics do not uproot the tangle of desire from the heart, then the Lord, difficult to attain for the unworthy, remains hidden in the heart, like a forgotten jewel at the throat. For those not satisfied in soul, there is suffering on both sides, for they have not reached the Lord’s state, free from death and firmly established. One who does not know the Lord, the source of all auspicious and inauspicious things, cannot discern the qualities and faults arising from Him, nor the words of embodied beings. Yet, in every age, the Lord is sung in unbroken succession, and those who hear of Him are led toward liberation. Even the rulers of heaven could not reach the Lord’s end, nor could the cosmic eggs known as Sāvarṇas that exist between Him. Just as dust motes float in the sky with the wind, so too do the Vedas, along with time, pass away; but in the Lord, they bear fruit, and by rejecting the unreal, they find their end in Him. The Blessed Lord declared: Thus, having heard this instruction from Brahma, his sons, the Siddhas, honored Sanandana, knowing the path of the Self. The essence of all the Vedas, Puranas, and Upanishads has been drawn out by the great souls of earlier times, traveling through the sky. And you, O heir of Brahma, bearing this instruction of the Self with faith, live on this earth as you wish, burning away the desires of men. Śuka continued: Thus, having received the instruction from the sage with faith and self-control, the muni Vīravrata, full and learned, spoke. Nārada said: Salutations to that Blessed Lord, Kṛṣṇa, of spotless fame, who bears all the powers of creation and destruction of all beings. Bowing to the ancient sage and his noble disciples, Nārada went to the ashram of his father, Dvaipāyana. Honored by the Blessed Lord and having accepted a seat, Dvaipāyana narrated to Nārada that which he had heard from the mouth of Nārāyaṇa. Thus, O King, has been described that which you asked—how the mind may dwell upon Brahman, who is beyond definition and without qualities. He who observes the beginning, middle, and end of this universe, the Lord of the unmanifest, living beings, and rulers; who, having created this world, enters into it and, through the seers, governs it; whom, upon attaining, the embodied soul abandons, just as a sleeping bird leaves its nest—upon that Hari, whose unique existence is untouched by origin and who is fearless, one should meditate constantly. Thus ends the eighty-seventh chapter, entitled “The Prayers of the Vedas,” in the second half of the Tenth Book of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, the scripture for the paramahaṃsas. Then, the king asked: Among gods, demons, and humans, those who worship the inauspicious as auspicious are mostly wealthy rulers, but not devotees of Hari, the Lord of Lakṣmī. We wish to understand this, for we have great doubt: why do those who worship two lords of opposing natures attain opposite results? Śuka replied: Śiva, always united with power, is threefold, enveloped by the guṇas—he is of the nature of sattva, rajas, and tamas; thus, I am threefold. From him arose various transformations, sixteen in number, and, assuming the forms of all manifestations, he attains the state of all. Hari, however, is directly beyond the guṇas, the Supreme Person, transcendent to nature; he is the witness of all, the overseer—by worshipping him, one becomes free from the guṇas. When the aśvamedha sacrifices had ceased, your grandfather, the king, hearing of the Lord’s dharmas, asked this of Acyuta. The Blessed Lord, pleased with his attentive service, spoke to him for the highest good of men—he who descended in the Yadu line. The Blessed Lord said: When I show special favor to someone, I gradually take away his wealth; then, his relatives abandon him, and he, afflicted by suffering, suffers further.