Listen to the sacred narrative as revealed in these verses. The greatness of worshipping the Sun is extolled: when one offers libations of milk to the Sun, the mind is freed from distress; and offerings of curds bring success in all undertakings. If a person, with focused mind and purity, draws water for bathing the Sun at a holy place, that person attains the highest state. By faithfully giving an umbrella, banner, canopy, flag, or fly-whisk to the Sun, one achieves the desired goal. Whatever substance is offered to the Sun with devotion, the Sun multiplies it a hundred thousand times for the devotee. Through the Sun’s grace, all misdeeds—whether mental, verbal, or physical—are completely removed. Even the fruit gained from worshipping the Sun for a single day, with proper gifts to Brahmins, surpasses the merit of a hundred sacrifices. Having thus heard of the Sun’s greatness, the Lord of the world is addressed: “O best of gods, what you have spoken is rare. Please speak again, O Lord of gods, for our curiosity is great. Tell us—whether householder, student, forest-dweller, or mendicant—how should one worship to attain liberation? How can everlasting heaven be gained? How can the highest good be reached, and, having attained heaven, how does one avoid falling again? Who among the gods is the supreme deity, and who among the ancestors is the supreme ancestor? Tell us, O Lord, that from which nothing is higher. From where was this universe, all that moves and does not move, created? And to whom does it return at dissolution?” The response is profound: As the Sun rises, he dispels the darkness of the world with his rays; there is no deity higher than him. He is without beginning or end, eternal and imperishable; with his fierce rays, he scorches the three worlds. He is composed of all the gods, the foremost among those who shine, the lord of the whole world, the witness of all, the master of the universe. He contracts all beings and then creates them again; he shines, heats, and sends rain with his beams. He is the creator and ordainer, the origin and sustainer of all beings; he never perishes, and his orb is eternal and undecaying. He is the ancestor of ancestors, the deity of deities; his realm is the firm place, from which there is no return. At the time of creation, the entire world emerges from the Sun, and at dissolution, it returns to him, the radiant illuminator. Countless yogis, having abandoned their mortal bodies, become like wind and enter into this mass of light—the Sun. Thousands of his rays, like branches and birds, are the refuge of accomplished sages who dwell there together with the gods. Householders like Janaka and other kings established in yoga, sages like the Vālakhilyas, forest-dwellers, Vyāsa, mendicants, and others—all who have taken up yoga have entered the solar orb. Śuka, the illustrious son of Vyāsa, attained the path of yoga, reached the rays of the Sun, and established himself in non-return. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and others are known only through words and hearsay, but this supreme god—the Sun, destroyer of darkness—is directly visible. Therefore, one who desires auspiciousness should not direct devotion elsewhere, for those gods led by Viṣṇu are inaccessible to sight. One should always worship the blessed Sun, for he is the mother, father, and teacher of the entire world. The Sun, lord of worlds, without beginning, adorned with rays, is the master of the universe. Because he abides as a friend, he performed austerities. Brahmā is without beginning or end, eternal and imperishable, having created the continents with their oceans and the fourteen worlds. For the welfare of the worlds, he abides on the banks of the lunar river, having created all the lords of creatures and various beings. Then, the thousand-rayed one, himself unmanifest, makes himself twelvefold and becomes the Sun. Indra, Dhātā, Parjanya, Tvaṣṭṛ, Pūṣan, Aryaman, Bhaga, Vivasvān, Viṣṇu, Aṃśa, Varuṇa, and Mitra—by these twelve forms, the supreme Self, the Sun, pervades the entire world with his manifestations. His first form, called Indra, stands as the king of the gods, destroying their enemies. The second form, Dhātā, abides as the lord of creatures, creating various beings. The third form, Parjanya, dwells in the clouds and causes rain with his rays. The fourth form, Tvaṣṭṛ, abides in trees and all plants everywhere. The fifth form, Pūṣan, is established in food and always nourishes living beings. The sixth form, Aryaman, is the movement in the wind and is found among the gods. The seventh form, Bhaga, abides in abundance and in the bodies of living beings. Thus, the Sun, in his manifold forms and boundless glory, is the supreme deity, the source and sustainer of all, and the highest refuge for those who seek liberation and everlasting good.