Hear now the sacred vision of the seers, a tapestry woven from the wisdom of the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad. There is a supreme Person, radiant as the sun, who dwells beyond all darkness. I know Him—He alone is the path to liberation. To know this great Being is to cross over death itself; there is no other way. Nothing exists beyond Him, neither greater nor smaller. Like a mighty tree standing alone in the sky, He remains steadfast, filling the entire universe with His presence. He is the highest, formless and untouched by suffering. Those who realize His nature become immortal; those who do not remain caught in sorrow. This Person has all faces, all heads, and all necks; He dwells within the hearts of all beings, pervading everything. Thus, the blessed Shiva is present everywhere, in all forms and all places. He is the origin and ruler of all existence, pure and luminous, bestowing the imperishable light of attainment. This inner Self—the Person—is subtle, the size of a thumb, eternally established in the hearts of all people. He is perceived through heart, intellect, and mind; those who know Him truly become immortal. He is the Person with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. He envelops the earth on every side, and extends beyond it by ten fingers’ breadth. All that has been and all that will be is this Person alone; He is the Lord of immortality, who grows and expands through food. His hands and feet are everywhere, as are His eyes, heads, and mouths. He hears everywhere in the world, covering all things, standing enveloping everything. He appears as the qualities of all the senses, yet is untouched by the senses themselves. He is the Lord, the ruler, the refuge, and the friend of all. Within the city of nine gates—the body—the embodied soul, like a swan, moves playfully outside, master of all that moves and is still. Though He has no hands or feet, He is swift and can grasp all things. He sees without eyes, hears without ears. He knows all that can be known, yet no one knows Him fully. He is called the foremost, the great Person. The Self is subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest, hidden in the heart of every creature. Only those who are free from desire and sorrow, who have purified their minds, see the majesty of the Lord. I know this ageless, ancient, all-pervading Self, present everywhere. The knowers of Brahman declare that He is the end of birth, the eternal One. He is one and without color, yet through the union of His powers, He assumes many colors and forms, establishing countless meanings and moving within and at the end of the universe. May that divine One unite us with auspicious understanding. He alone is Agni, the fire; He is the Sun, He is Vayu, the wind; He is the Moon, the bright, Brahma, the waters, and Prajapati, the creator. He is woman and man, boy and girl, the aged one who walks with a staff. He is born anew, becoming the One with faces everywhere. He is dark, winged, green, red-eyed, the womb of lightning, the seasons, the oceans. Without beginning, He exists in vastness, from whom all worlds are born. The one unborn, red, white, and black, creates many beings of similar forms. One unborn enjoys her and lies beside her; another unborn, after enjoying, abandons her. Two birds, close companions, perch on the same tree. One eats the sweet fruit, while the other looks on without eating. On this same tree, the individual soul, immersed and powerless, grieves and is confused. But when he sees the other—the Lord—and His greatness, he becomes free from sorrow. In the imperishable, supreme space where all gods reside, if one does not know Him, what use are hymns? Only those who know gather there. All hymns, sacrifices, rituals, vows, past and future, and all that the Vedas declare—this universe is created by the Magician, and another is bound by His magic. Know Māyā as Prakṛti, and the Magician as the great Lord; by His parts, this entire world is pervaded. He alone presides over every womb; in Him all things move and rest. To that Lord, giver of boons and worthy of worship, bowing down, one attains supreme peace. He is the source and origin of the gods, greater than all, Rudra, the great sage; see Hiranyagarbha being born from Him. May He unite us with auspicious understanding. He is the Lord of the gods, in whom all worlds are established. He rules over bipeds and quadrupeds. To which god should we offer our oblations but Him? Subtler than the subtlest, in the midst of confusion, He is the creator of the universe, of many forms, enveloping all. Knowing Shiva, one attains supreme peace. He alone is the protector of the world in time, Lord of all, hidden in every being. In Him, sages and gods are united; knowing Him, one cuts the bonds of death. Knowing Shiva, subtler than clarified butter, hidden in all beings, the one who envelops the universe—one is freed from all bonds. This divine maker of all, the great soul, is always established in the hearts of people. By heart, intellect, and mind He is approached; those who know Him become immortal. When darkness alone is, there is neither day nor night, neither being nor non-being; only Shiva remains, the imperishable, the most excellent of Savitṛ, from whom ancient wisdom has arisen. No one has grasped Him above, across, or in the middle; He has no likeness, and His very name is of great glory. His form is not within the range of sight; no one sees Him with the eye. Those who know Him dwelling in the heart, by the heart and mind, become immortal. Some, fearful, take refuge in the Unborn, praying, “O Rudra, by Your auspicious face, always protect me.” We pray: Do not harm our children, our lifespan, our cattle, or our horses; O Rudra, do not strike down our heroes. Praised One, we invoke You always with offerings. There are two eternal syllables, supreme Brahman and infinite, where knowledge and ignorance are hidden. The perishable is ignorance; the immortal is knowledge. And He who rules over both knowledge and ignorance is another. He alone presides over the womb of all wombs, forming all forms and wombs, upholding the sage Kapila, born at the beginning, and sees the one being born. Making each net manifold, in this field, this God withdraws them; having created again, He is the Lord of lords, the great soul who rules over all. He shines forth, illuminating all directions—above, below, and across—like the sun. Thus does that blessed, venerable God alone preside over the natures of all wombs. Thus is the vision of the seers: the One who is all, within and beyond, the source and end of all, the Lord known as Shiva, the supreme Person, the eternal Self. Knowing Him, one attains immortality and supreme peace.