Within the mysterious city of nine gates—the human body—the embodied soul, likened to a graceful swan, moves freely and playfully. This soul is the master of all creation, both the unmoving and the moving. Though he lacks hands and feet, he is swift and grasps all things; though he has no eyes or ears, he sees and hears everything. He knows all that is to be known, yet no one truly knows him; he is revered as the foremost, the Great Person. This self is subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest, hidden deep in the heart of every being. Only those who are free from desire and sorrow, who have purified their minds, behold the majesty of the Lord. “I know this ancient, ageless, all-pervading self, present everywhere,” declares the sage. The knowers of Brahman proclaim him as the end of birth and death, as the eternal one. He is the one, colorless, who, by uniting with his powers, assumes many colors and forms, establishing countless meanings and moving throughout the universe and at its end. May that divine presence unite us with auspicious understanding. That alone is Agni, that is the Sun, that is Vayu, that is the Moon; that alone is the bright, that is Brahma, that is the waters, that is Prajapati. He is woman, he is man; he is boy and girl; he is the old one who walks with a staff. He is born and becomes 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 his 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, while another unborn, after enjoying, abandons her. Two birds, inseparable friends, perch on the same tree; one eats the sweet fruit, while the other, not eating, simply looks on. On this same tree, the individual soul, immersed and powerless, grieves and is confused. But when he sees the other, the Lord, and realizes his greatness, he becomes free from sorrow. In the imperishable, supreme space where all the gods reside, if one does not know that, what can the hymn accomplish? Only those who know it gather there. All hymns, sacrifices, rituals, vows, the past and future, and what the Vedas declare—this entire universe is created by the magician, while 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 moves and rests. To that Lord, the 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. May he unite us with auspicious understanding. He is the lord of the gods, in whom all worlds are established; he rules over all beings—bipeds and quadrupeds. To which god should we offer with oblation? Subtler than the subtlest, the creator of the universe, of many forms, pervading all, he is found amidst confusion. Knowing Shiva, one attains supreme peace. He alone is the protector of the world in time, the 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 within all beings, the one who envelops the universe, the divine—knowing him, one is freed from all bonds. This divine, the 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 this become immortal. When that darkness is, there is neither day nor night, neither being nor non-being; only Shiva exists—imperishable, the most excellent, from whom ancient wisdom arose. 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 cannot be seen by the eyes; only those who know him dwelling in the heart, by heart and mind, become immortal. Some, in fear, take refuge in the Unborn, thinking of him; “O Rudra, by your auspicious face, always protect me.” “Do not harm our children, nor our lifespan, nor our cattle, nor our horses; O Rudra, do not strike down our heroes. We always invoke you 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 another, who rules over both, is beyond. He alone presides over the womb of all wombs, forms all forms and all wombs, upholds the sage Kapila, born at the beginning, with knowledge, and sees the one being born. He makes each net manifold, and in this field, he withdraws them; having created again, he is the Lord of lords, the great soul who exercises sovereignty over all. Shining forth, illuminating all directions—above, below, and across—like the sun, that blessed, venerable God alone presides over the natures of all wombs. The universal womb cooks its own nature and transforms all that is to be cooked; he alone presides over the whole universe and assigns all the qualities. That which is hidden in the secret Upaniṣads, that Brahman is known by Brahmā as the source of Brahman. Those gods and seers who knew it before became immortal, identified with That. He who is associated with qualities, the doer of actions and their results, and also the enjoyer of what is done, who is of manifold forms, threefold in qualities and paths, the lord of life, moves according to his own deeds. Of the size of a thumb, with a form like the sun, endowed with will and ego, by the quality of intellect and by its own quality, though the smallest, he is seen as the tip of a hair. The living being is to be known as the hundredth part of the tip of a hair divided again a hundredfold, and yet it is capable of infinity. He is neither female, nor male, nor neuter; as he assumes each body, so he is joined with it. Through will, touch, sight, and delusion, through food, water, and rain, the embodied self, following actions, is born and grows, and in due order assumes forms in various places. The embodied self chooses many gross and subtle forms by its own qualities, by qualities of action and of self, and another is seen as the cause of their union. Knowing the beginningless and endless God, the creator of the world, of many forms, the sole enveloping Lord of the universe, one is freed from all bonds. Those who know the God who is grasped by being, called the nestless, the maker of being and non-being, the auspicious, the creator of parts, they abandon the body and become immortal.