One who possesses this sacred armor, as spoken in the Kanva recension, becomes a great orator, a foremost poet, and is victorious throughout the three worlds. This powerful teaching has now been revealed to you, O sage. Long ago, Nārāyaṇa spoke of a time when the illustrious sage Yājñavalkya, having suffered the loss of his knowledge due to his teacher’s curse, found himself bereft of memory and wisdom. In his distress, Yājñavalkya undertook severe austerities and journeyed to Koṇārka, where he worshipped the Sun within his sight, seeking restoration. The Sun, the Lord of the Vedas and their branches, took pity on him and imparted the sacred knowledge anew. Having thus blessed Yājñavalkya, the compassionate Lord vanished from his sight. Stricken by his loss, Yājñavalkya prayed fervently: “Cursed by my teacher, I am left without memory or knowledge, and I am tormented. O goddess of knowledge, grant me wisdom and remembrance. Bless me with the power to compose sacred texts and with a worthy, steadfast disciple. Restore to me, again and again, all that fate has taken. You are the supreme embodiment of Brahman, the eternal form of light. Without you, the world exists as if dead, mute, and senseless. You are pure and radiant, like snow, sandalwood, jasmine, the moon, the white lotus, and the water-lily. You preside over the syllables ‘visarga’ and ‘bindu.’ Without you, even those skilled in numbers cannot count. You are the very form of explanation and the presiding deity of exposition, the embodiment of memory, knowledge, and intellect.” Yājñavalkya recalled how, in ages past, Sanatkumāra had questioned Brahmā about knowledge, and at that time, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, appeared. At the command of the Supreme Self, Brahmā offered praises to the goddess of knowledge. When the Earth herself sought a single, unified knowledge from the Infinite One, Kaśyapa too, out of fear and by command, praised the goddess. Vyāsa once questioned Vālmīki regarding the Purāṇa-sūtra, and by the goddess’s boon, Vālmīki, the lord of sages, composed that treatise. Upon hearing it, Vyāsa—born in the age of Kṛṣṇa—received a boon from the goddess and became the foremost of poets, composing the divisions of the Veda and the Purāṇas. It was by meditating upon her, even for a moment, that the Lord granted knowledge to the goddess. For a thousand divine years, he meditated upon her at Puṣkara and taught the science of words and their meanings to the lord of the gods. All those disciples who learned from him, and the great sages who studied, revered and worshipped the goddess. She is praised by the foremost sages, Manu, and the descendants of Manu. Even the thousand-headed, five-faced, and four-faced beings were left stupefied before her glory. Having thus spoken, Yājñavalkya bowed his neck in deep devotion. Then, radiant as light yet unseen by him, the goddess spoke to Yājñavalkya. She declared that whoever, with self-restraint, recites this hymn to Vāṇī composed by Yājñavalkya—even if he be a great fool or dull of intellect—if he recites it for one year, he will be transformed. Nārāyaṇa then continued: Because of Gaṅgā’s curse, because of quarrels and conflict, O river of Bhārata, she became the giver of merit, the mother of virtue, and the very embodiment of all sacred places of pilgrimage. Among ascetics, she is the form of austerity itself, and she takes the very shape of penance.