Salutations to the One whose very nature is peace, to the most hidden and secret, to the inconceivable, immeasurable, the One without beginning or end. At the dawn of creation, all was darkness alone—an unmanifest, silent potential. Then, stirred by the transcendent principle, this darkness began to move and became the state of sense-objects, which is the quality of rajas, the active force. When rajas itself is stirred, it turns into conflict, which is tamas, the quality of inertia and obscurity. When tamas is set in motion, it pours forth as sattva, the quality of clarity and harmony. And when sattva is stirred, it too flows forth, becoming pure consciousness—the knower within each being, marked by intention, determination, and ego: Prajāpati, the Lord of all creatures. From this One arise the foremost forms—Brahmā, Rudra, and Viṣṇu. Brahmā is the portion of rajas, Rudra of tamas, and Viṣṇu of sattva. Thus, the One manifests as three, as eight, as eleven, as twelve, and in countless forms, moving among beings as the sovereign Lord, existing both within and without. This Self supports itself in two ways: as breath within and as the sun without. These two, breath and sun, are fivefold in name, and they alternate as day and night, within and without. The sun is the outer Self, breath is the inner Self; the movement of the outer is inferred by the movement of the inner. The wise, pure, self-controlled, and devoted, with senses withdrawn, perceive the outer through the movement of the inner. Within the sun dwells a golden person, who perceives me as golden; he is also the one abiding in the lotus of the heart, partaking of food. That one within the heart-lotus is Agni, the fire established in heaven, the radiant sun, called Time, invisible, consuming the food of all beings. The lotus is the space of the heart, its petals are the four directions and their intermediates. The fire moves forward—these are breath and sun, to be worshipped with the sacred syllable and the utterance of Sāvitrī. Brahman is twofold: the manifest and the unmanifest. The manifest is unreal, the unmanifest is real—this is Brahman. Brahman is light; that light is the sun, the very Self signified by Om. He divided himself into three parts, just as Om has three syllables, by which all is woven and interwoven. Therefore, one should meditate on the sun as Om, and thus unite with it. Elsewhere, it is said: The udgītha is the praṇava, and praṇava is udgītha; the sun is udgītha, the leader, name and form, free from sleep, old age, and death, fivefold, hidden in the cave of the heart, with roots above and branches below—sky, air, fire, water, earth, and more. All is consumed by the One—this is Brahman. The sun is the essence of Om, and Om is holy knowledge. Whoever knows Om, whatever he desires, that he attains. It is also said: Om is thunder, possessing all genders; it is fire, wind, sun, Rudra, Viṣṇu, the Lord, the household fire, the sacred fires, the Vedas, the worlds, time, breath, heat, food, water, moon, intellect, mind, ego, and the vital airs. By uttering Om, all these are honored and offered. Both the supreme and the non-supreme are signified by Om. Prajāpati, after austerity, uttered ‘Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar’—these are his most substantial forms with worlds: Svar is the head, Bhuvaḥ the navel, Bhūḥ the feet; the sun is the eye, the measure of the Great Person. By the eye, the measure moves; the eye is truth, the Person is present in all. Therefore, one should worship Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar—Prajāpati, soul and eye of the universe, bearer of all, in whom all is hidden and contained. ‘Tat savitur vareṇyam’—that sun is Savitṛ, chosen for the sake of the Self. ‘Bhargo devasya dhīmahi’—Savitṛ is established, his radiance is to be gathered. ‘Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt’—the intellects are our thoughts; may he inspire them. Bharga is the radiance in the sun, illuminating all worlds and coloring all beings. Because he bears, he is Bharga; because he reveals, he is Sūrya; because he impels, he is Savitṛ; because he gives, he is Āditya; because he purifies, he is Pavamāna. He is immortal, thinker, goer, creator, joy-giver, doer, speaker, taster, smeller, toucher, all-pervading. Where knowledge is dual, one perceives all by the Self; where knowledge is non-dual, indescribable, what can be said of that? He is the Lord of the Self: Śaṃbhu, Bhava, Rudra, Prajāpati, creator, Hiraṇyagarbha, truth, breath, swan, peaceful, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Arka, Savitṛ, Dhātṛ, emperor, Indra, moon—he who shines, golden, blissful, with a thousand rays, is to be sought and known. Having given fearlessness to all beings, withdrawing the senses, one perceives him within. The golden, all-formed Jātavedas, the supreme light, the breath among creatures, is the sun. Again, the Self supports itself as breath and sun, the two paths within and without, day and night, alternating. The sun is the outer Self, breath the inner; the movement of the outer is inferred from the inner. The wise, pure, devoted, with withdrawn senses, perceive the outer through the inner. The golden person within the sun, who sees me as golden, is the same who abides in the lotus of the heart and partakes of food. That one in the heart-lotus is Agni in heaven, the solar Time, invisible, consuming all beings’ food. The lotus is space, its petals the directions. The fire moves forward—these are breath and sun, to be worshipped by the sacred syllable and Sāvitrī. Brahman is twofold: manifest and unmanifest. The manifest is unreal, the unmanifest is real, Brahman as light, light as the sun, the Self signified by Om, divided threefold as Om’s syllables, by which all is woven. Therefore, meditate on the sun as Om, and unite with it. Elsewhere: udgītha is praṇava, the sun is udgītha, radiant, free from sleep, old age, and death, three-footed, hidden in the cave. Its roots are above, its branches—sky, air, fire, water, earth. This is the Aśvattha, Brahman, its radiance the sun, essence Om. Worship with Om; this syllable is holy and supreme. Knowing it, whatever one desires becomes his. Elsewhere: Om has ninety aspects, marked by gender—feminine, masculine, neuter; radiant as Agni, Vāyu, Āditya; lordly as Brahmā, Rudra, Viṣṇu; mouth-like as the sacred fires; endowed with knowledge as Ṛg, Yajus, Sāman; connected to worlds as Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar; with time—past, present, future; full of energy—prāṇa, Agni, Sūrya; nourishing—food, water, moon; conscious—buddhi, mind, ego; vital—prāṇa, apāna, vyāna. By Om, all these are honored and offered. Both higher and lower Brahman are this syllable Om. In the beginning, all was unuttered. Prajāpati, after austerity, uttered Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar—his greatest, world-like form: Svar is the head, Bhuvaḥ the navel, Bhūḥ the feet; the sun is the eye, truth is the eye, the Person established in the eyes moves among all. Therefore, meditate on Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svar—Prajāpati, all-seeing, the form that upholds all, in whom all is contained. ‘Tat savitur vareṇyam’—that is the sun, Savitṛ, to be chosen for the Self, say the knowers of Brahman. ‘Bhargo devasya dhīmahi’—Savitṛ is the god, his bharga, his light, is to be contemplated. Bharga is the radiance in the sun, illuminating worlds, delighting beings, into whom all creatures go and from whom they come. From shining, he is Sūrya; from impelling, Savitṛ; from giving, Āditya; from purifying, Pāvana. The Self is immortal, thinker, knower, goer, releaser, delighter, doer, speaker, taster, smeller, seer, hearer, toucher, all-pervading, established in the body. Where knowledge is dual, the Self knows all; where non-dual, beyond cause, effect, and description—what can be said? This very Self is Lord: Śambhu, Bhava, Rudra, Prajāpati, creator, Hiraṇyagarbha, truth, life, swan, teacher, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Arka, Savitṛ, Dhātṛ, Vidhātṛ, sovereign, Indra, moon—he who shines, hidden by fire, in a golden egg, to be sought and realized within, after giving fearlessness and renouncing sense-objects. The golden, all-formed knower, the supreme light, the life of creatures, is the sun that rises. He who knows thus is of both natures, meditating and worshipping only the Self. Meditation is the mind established in practice, praised by the wise. If the mind is defiled, one should purify it with water and mantras, offering to the five prāṇas. Whatever remains is eaten in silence, and water sprinkled again. Having rinsed the mouth, knowing the worship of the Self, meditate: ‘Prāṇa is fire, the supreme Self is the fivefold wind; you are all, Vaiśvānara, supporter of the universe, may all oblations and beings enter you, where the nectar of the universe is.’ Thus, one is not again subject to being eaten. The higher transformation of self-offering is explained as ‘food and the eater of food.’ The conscious person abides in primal matter, enjoying natural food. The elemental self is the food, the threefold qualities its nature, the enjoyer is the person within. The seen is the object; animals arise from seed, so seed is food. The enjoyer is the person, the enjoyed is nature. Natural food, transformed by the three qualities, extends from the great principle to the particular, forming the world of pleasure, pain, and delusion. The seed does not taste sweetness until it becomes food; in childhood, youth, old age, food-nature is due to transformation. When matter is manifest, intellect and the rest become sweet, as do sense-objects and actions. Manifest and unmanifest food: the enjoyer is without qualities but known through consciousness. As fire among gods eats food, and Soma is food, so the elemental self is Soma, and fire is the unmanifest mouth—thus, the person eats the three qualities. Whoever knows thus is a renunciant, yogi, and self-sacrificer. He who does not touch the objects that have entered, like women entering an empty house, is a true renunciant and yogi. The highest form of the Self is food, for breath is made of food. Without eating, one cannot think, sense, or live; with food, one is full of breath and able to act. From food, beings are born, live, and return to food. All beings seek food daily; the sun draws up food with its rays, and by food, it burns. The breaths cook, anointed with food; fire burns by food, and the world is established by the desire for food, created by Brahman. Therefore, meditate on food as the Self. From water, beings are born; they grow by food, eat and are eaten—thus it is called food. The form of Lord Viṣṇu, supporter of the universe, is food; breath is its essence, mind is the essence of breath, knowledge of mind, bliss of knowledge. Whoever knows this possesses food, breath, mind, knowledge, and bliss.