Why did Hari, the lord of gods and men, the very source of earth and heaven, choose to take on a human form? He who alone turns the wheel of destiny spun from the mind of humanity—how did he, the supreme among those who bear the sacred discus, awaken wisdom within mankind? This same Vishnu, who made the tending of cows a universal act across all the worlds—how did he, the lord of all, go among the cows and become a humble cowherd? He who, as the soul of all beings, divided and brought forth the great elements—how was this bearer of fortune ever held within the womb of a woman upon the earth? It was he who, with three mighty strides, conquered the worlds, establishing the very pathways of the universe and the three supreme aims of life. At the end of time, he drank up the world itself, taking a form of water, and by both visible and invisible means, made the world into a single ocean. In ancient times, he took the form of a boar, vanquished all obstacles, and restored the earth to the gods, the best among the divine. He who assumed the fierce form of a lion and, dividing that form, slew the once-mighty demon Hiranyakashipu. He who, as the consuming fire Aurva, the all-pervading Samvartaka, entered the netherworld, drank the sacrificial waters, and dwelled within the ocean. This god is invoked in every age as the thousand-footed, thousand-rayed, thousand-headed deity. From the forest of his navel arose the ancestral abode; when the world was veiled by a single ocean, there appeared that unsoiled lotus, pure and untouched. It was by his might that the Daityas were vanquished in the battle of Tārakāmaya, for he assumed a form composed of all the gods, bearing every kind of weapon. Mounted upon Garuḍa, he struck down Kālanemi upon the northern shore of the immortal ocean of milk; and there he lies, entered into eternal meditation, amidst the great darkness. Long ago, Aditi bore him in her womb, radiant from the power of her austerities. Even while still within her, he greatly humbled Indra, who was beset by the armies of the Daityas. When the wind swept away the abodes of the worlds and cast the Daityas into the waters, this primeval god established the gods of heaven and made Puruhūta their lord. He established the sacred fires: the gārhapatya, the anvāhārya, the āhavanīya, and the altar called Kuśaśrava, all in accordance with the ancient rites. He fashioned the sprinkling vessel, the ladle, the purifying avabhṛtha bath, and performed the threefold offering of oblations in the sacrifice. He assigned the oblations to the gods and the offerings to the ancestors, as prescribed, for the sake of enjoyment, for he himself is the very sacrifice in all sacrificial acts. He created the sacrificial posts, the kindling sticks, the ladle, Soma the purifier, the enclosing sticks, all sacrificial materials, and the sacred fires themselves. In the beginning, he shone forth with the supreme act—creating the officiating priests, the sacrificers, and the most excellent sacrifices, such as the Aśvamedha. Adapting to each age, he created the three worlds in their proper order, along with moments, twinklings, kāṣṭhās, kalās, and the threefold divisions of time. He made the muhūrtas, lunar days, months, days, years, seasons, and all the conjunctions of time, as well as the threefold measure. He established lifespan, fields, growth, distinguishing marks, beauty of form, intelligence, wealth, valor, and mastery of scripture. He is the originator of the three castes, the three worlds, the triple knowledge, the three fires, the three times, the three acts, the three māyās, and the three qualities. By his supreme act, the worlds, the gods, and all beings were created—he is the soul within all. He delights through the yoga of the senses within men, is the leader of all cycles of birth and death, and the lord of all diversity everywhere. For the righteous, he is the path; for those who perform evil, he is the absence of path. He is the origin and protector of the fourfold order. He is the knower of the four Vedas, the refuge of the four stages of life, and the very directions, the sky, the earth, the waters, the wind, and the fire. He is the two great lights—the moon and the sun—the lord of the ages, the wanderer of the night, the supreme god, and the highest austerity. He is the greatest of ascetics, the supreme self-possessed, the god beginning with the Adityas, and the mighty destroyer of the Daityas. At the end of the ages, he is the ender, the destroyer of destroyers, the bridge among the bridges of the worlds, the purest among the pure. He is to be known by those who know the Veda, the lord of all creative power; he who became Soma among beings and fire among those radiant with fire. He became the mind among men, austerity among ascetics, humility among the disciplined, and brilliance among the brilliant. He is the form among forms, the goal of all who have goals, the wind born of space, the vital breath, the fire of oblations. By day, the fire of oblations is the vital breath; the vital breath of fire is Madhusudana. Sap became blood, and from blood, flesh arises; from flesh comes fat, from fat is produced bone, from bone comes marrow, and from marrow arises semen. From semen, the embryo is produced, by the action rooted in sap. Of these, first are the waters, called the lunar mass. The embryo arises from heat as the second mass; semen is lunar in nature, menstrual blood is fiery. These two states follow sap, and in potency are the moon and fire; in the phlegmatic group, semen arises, and in the bilious group, blood. The heart is the seat of phlegm, the navel the seat of bile; the heart, at the body’s center, is remembered as the seat of the mind. Thus, the divine, in all his wondrous forms and actions, pervades and sustains the worlds and the beings within them.