The sages, their minds, senses, and breath fully restrained through the practice of steadfast yoga, worshipped the Lord within their hearts. Even those who opposed them, simply by remembering the Supreme, came to attain Him. Women, too, though their minds were absorbed in the embrace of the serpent king, and even the sages themselves, all were made equal by tasting the nectar of His lotus feet. Yet, who among beings truly knows the origin, end, or the mysterious course of that Supreme One, from whom the great sage Brahmā himself was born, and whom all the gods, celestial and otherwise, follow? He who is the source of all is beyond existence and non-existence, beyond both, and untouched by time. When He rests thus, not even the scriptures can reach Him. Those who teach that the soul is born or dies, or is different from the body, speak in ignorance, perceiving only appearances. The notion that the living being is made of the three guṇas is also born of ignorance. In the Supreme, and beyond Him, such distinctions do not exist in the experience of true knowledge. Just as gold, though taking many forms, is never forsaken by those who know its essence, so the knowers of the self perceive all things as the Self. They do not reject the various transformations of the world, for everything is pervaded by the Lord alone. Those who move as companions of the Lord, the very abode of all beings, walk without fear even upon the head of death itself. The Supreme, like a herdsman gathering cattle, draws even the gods together. Those who have befriended Him are truly purified, while those who turn away are not. He is actionless, self-ruling, and bears all creative powers within Himself. The gods, ever wakeful, serve Him with reverence, just as the arms serve the sovereign of the body. The creators of the worlds, assigned their roles by Him, act with awe in His presence. All moving and unmoving beings arise from the union of causes and the unborn, acting under His gaze. Yet, when that union is dissolved, 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, then there would be no authority over them—but this is not so. And if what is born comes from the unborn, then without releasing that, the controller would remain, even if one accepts equality in all. To reject this understanding is to err in discernment. There can be no real origin for both Prakriti (nature) and Purusha (spirit), since both are uncreated. What arises from their union is unstable, like bubbles on water. In the Supreme, all these diverse names and qualities dissolve, just as rivers, with all their flavors, merge into the ocean. Among humans, those who recognize the powerful delusion created by the Lord’s Māyā and fix their minds on Him, the source of all, develop ever-deepening devotion. How can fear of worldly existence remain for those who follow Him, when even a 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 the senses and breath, but neglect the feet of the Guru, are beset by countless miseries, like merchants at sea who abandon their helmsman and are lost. When the Lord exists, what value is there in relying on relatives, children, self, spouse, wealth, home, or chariots? 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 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, and who fix their minds even once on Him—the eternal bliss within—never again seek the abodes of those who rob men of their essence. If one says, “This arises from the existent,” such reasoning is flawed, for it is inconsistent and sometimes false, not truly reconciling both. For practical dealings, distinctions are made, but these are handed down blindly, and elaborate speech confuses those dulled by ritual recitation. What did not exist before, and will not exist after dissolution, and is limited in between, appears in the Supreme as a mere illusion of one taste. Thus, distinctions of wealth or caste are like this: the wise know 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 to that, and then, freed from death, is released from its portion. The Lord too abandons such a 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 jewel forgotten 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, with all qualities, is sung in unbroken succession, and those who hear of Him are led toward liberation. Even the rulers of heaven could not reach the end of the Infinite One, nor could the groups of 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 Him, they bear fruit, and by rejecting the unreal, they find their end in Him. The Blessed Lord then spoke: Thus, having heard this teaching from Brahmā, his sons, the Siddhas, honored Sanandana, knowing the path of the Self. In this way, the essence of all the Vedas, Purāṇas, and Upaniṣads was drawn out by the great souls of earlier times, traveling through the sky. And you, O heir of Brahmā, bearing this teaching of the Self with faith, dwell 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 then 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, I then went to the ashram of my father, Dvaipāyana. Honored by the Blessed Lord and having accepted a seat, he narrated to him that which he had heard from the mouth of Nārāyaṇa. Thus, O King, has been described what you asked—how the mind may dwell upon Brahman, who is beyond definition and without qualities. One should meditate constantly upon that Hari, who observes the beginning, middle, and end of this universe; who is the Lord of the unmanifest, of living beings, and of the 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. 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, Parīkṣit, 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. He continued, “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 his 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 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. When, frustrated in his efforts and disillusioned with the pursuit of wealth, he befriends my devotees, I bestow my grace upon him. That supreme, subtle Brahman, consisting only of consciousness, eternal and infinite—knowing it as the Self, the wise one is freed from saṃsāra. Therefore, people, finding me very difficult to worship, turn to others; then, intoxicated and arrogant from the quick boons they receive—kingdoms and prosperity—they become proud, reckless, and, seeking further boons, disregard me.