O wise ones, listen as the origins and workings of the universe are revealed. All things, whether elements or beings, follow the characteristics, substances, and causes of the original source. From the unmanifest, the great elements and all else are born. From these elements, further distinctions arise, giving birth to gods and other beings; from them, their sons are born, and from those sons, the supreme offspring emerge. Just as a tree sprouts from a seed without diminishing the seed, so too, in the creation of beings, there is no loss or decrease. Space, time, and other factors, by their proximity, serve as causes for the tree’s growth; similarly, by transformation, the universe is sustained by the blessed Hari. Consider a grain of rice: from it arise the root, stalk, leaves, sprout, stem, sheath, flower, milk, and finally the grain itself. The husk and grains come forth from themselves, once the proper means for sprouting are attained. In the same way, through many actions, the bodies of gods and others remain; having received the power of Viṣṇu, they proceed to sprout forth. Viṣṇu is the supreme Brahman, from whom this entire universe arises, and into whom it will ultimately dissolve. That Brahman is the supreme abode, the highest state beyond both being and non-being; it is by His indivisible essence that the whole world, moving and unmoving, exists. He alone is the root-prakriti, manifest in form, and He is the world itself; into Him all things dissolve, and in Him they abide. He is the agent of actions, He is worshipped as the sacrifice, and He alone is the fruit of those actions. From Him arises the beginning of the age, and apart from Hari, nothing whatsoever exists. Now, let us turn to the form of the Lord in the sky, composed of stars—a form resembling a dolphin, in whose tail Dhruva is fixed. This form revolves, causing the revolution of the planets such as the Moon and Sun; the stars follow him as he moves, like spokes in a wheel. The Sun, Moon, stars, and planets are bound to Dhruva by bands made of wind, fastened securely. This celestial dolphin form, the Śiśumāra, is the supreme abode of Nārāyaṇa, who is established as its very support in the heart. Dhruva, the son of Uttānapāda, having worshipped the Lord of creatures, is established at the tail of this constellation-dolphin. Janārdana is the support of the dolphin and the overseer of all; the dolphin supports Dhruva, and the Sun is established in Dhruva. By this support, the world—including gods, asuras, and humans—is upheld. Hear now how this world is sustained. Vivasvān, the Sun, in eight months absorbs the waters that are the essence of sap; then he causes rain, from which food arises, and thus all the world is sustained by food. With his sharp rays, Vivasvān draws up the water of the world; then Soma, the Moon, nourishes it, using channels of air in the sky. The waters are scattered in the clouds by forms of vapor, fire, and wind; from these, the clouds retain the waters and do not lose them. Driven by the wind, the waters situated in the clouds fall down to earth; having acquired the purification produced by time, they become pure. The blessed Sun takes up four kinds of water: from rivers and oceans, from the earth, and from living beings. The radiant one, having taken the water of the celestial Ganges, immediately sends it down to earth with his rays, even when there are no clouds. When a mortal’s sins and stains are washed away by contact with that water, he does not go to hell, for that is called a divine bath. That water, seen by the Sun, falls from the sky without clouds; it is cast down upon the cows by the Sun’s rays. When water falls from the sky upon the uneven constellations beginning with Kṛttikā, having seen the Sun, it is understood as Ganges water, born from the elephants of the directions. When water falls upon the paired constellations, rising with the Sun, it is immediately taken up and removed by the Sun’s rays. Both kinds of water are exceedingly holy, removing sin for people; the celestial Ganges water is divine for bathing. The water released by clouds nourishes all living beings; it sustains all plants, for it is truly nectar for life. By it, the entire group of medicinal plants attains great growth; it causes fruit to ripen, and from it, offspring are produced. With that water, people who see with the eye of scripture perform the prescribed sacrifices daily, thereby nourishing the gods. Thus, sacrifices, Vedas, castes beginning with the twice-born, all groups of gods, and herds of animals and beings—all exist. This entire world, both immobile and mobile, is sustained by rain, and that rain is produced by Savitṛ, the Sun. Savitṛ is the fixed foundation; the fixed star is the Śiśumāra, and it too rests upon Nārāyaṇa. Nārāyaṇa abides in the heart of the Śiśumāra; he is the supporter of all beings, the primordial and eternal one. Thus, the Brahmāṇḍa—the cosmic egg—joined with the earth, ocean, and other elements, has been described. What else do you wish to hear, O sages? The sages replied: "Speak to us of the holy tīrthas and sacred places upon the earth, O knower of dharma; our minds desire to hear." It is said: He whose hands, feet, and mind are well restrained, whose learning, austerity, and fame are present, attains the fruit of tīrtha. The purified mind of a person, as well as speech and control of the senses—these bodily tīrthas awaken the path to heaven.