Upon the same tree of existence, two dwellers reside. One, the individual soul, is immersed, powerless, and grieves in confusion, unaware of his true nature. But when he beholds the other—who is the Lord, resplendent in His greatness—he becomes free from all sorrow. In the imperishable, supreme space where all the gods abide, lies that which must be truly known. Without knowledge of this, what can hymns or rituals accomplish? Only those who recognize this truth gather in that highest place. All the hymns, sacrifices, rituals, vows, the past and the future, all that the Vedas proclaim—this entire universe is the creation of the Magician, the Lord. Another, bound by His magic, remains deluded. Know that Māyā is Prakṛti, the primordial nature, and the Magician is the great Lord Himself. By His power, this whole world is pervaded. He alone presides over every womb, and in Him all things move and rest. To that Lord, the giver of blessings and worthy of worship, one bows down and attains supreme peace. He is the source and origin of the gods, greater than all, known as Rudra, the great sage. Behold Hiranyagarbha, the golden embryo, 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 all beings, bipeds and quadrupeds. To which god, then, should we offer our oblations? Subtler than the subtlest, amidst all confusion, He is the creator of the universe, of many forms, enveloping all. By knowing Shiva, one attains supreme peace. He alone is the protector of the world throughout time, the Lord of all, hidden within every being. In Him, sages and gods are united. Knowing Him thus, one severs the bonds of death. Realizing Shiva—subtler than clarified butter, hidden in all beings, the one who envelops the universe—one is freed from all bonds. This divine, the maker of all, the great soul, is ever established in the hearts of people. By heart, intellect, and mind, He is approached, and those who realize Him become immortal. In that realm of darkness, there is neither day nor night, neither being nor non-being—only Shiva alone, the imperishable, the most excellent, 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 beholds Him with the eye. Those who know Him dwelling in the heart, by the heart and mind, become immortal. In fear, some seek refuge in the Unborn, praying, “O Rudra, by Your auspicious face, always protect me.” They appeal, “Do not harm our children, nor our lifespan, nor our cattle or 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 is another. He alone presides over all wombs, forming all forms and wombs, upholding the sage Kapila, born at the beginning, and beholds the one being born. Making each net manifold, in this field, the Lord withdraws them at will; 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, this 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 qualities. That which is hidden in the secret Upanishads, that Brahman is known by Brahma 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 the enjoyer of what is done, who is of manifold forms, threefold in qualities and paths, the lord of life—moves according to his deeds. Subtle as the tip of a hair, of the size of a thumb, shining like the sun, endowed with will and ego, by the quality of intellect and its own nature, the living being is seen. The living being is to be known as the hundredth part of the tip of a hair divided again a hundredfold, 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, delusion, food, water, and rain, the embodied self, following actions, is born, grows, and assumes forms in various places. The embodied self chooses many gross and subtle forms by its own qualities, by qualities of action and self; yet 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 at death. Some wise thinkers speak of inherent nature, others of time, while many are bewildered; but it is the greatness of the divine by which this world and the wheel of Brahman revolve. By whom all this is perpetually enveloped—He is the knower, the master of time, endowed with qualities, omniscient; by Him, action is directed and unfolds, and earth, water, fire, air, and space are to be contemplated. Having performed that action and withdrawn again, attaining union with the essence of truth by truth—whether by one, two, three, or eight means, by time and by subtle qualities of the self. Beginning actions endowed with qualities, assigning all states, whoever does so—when these cease, the destruction of performed actions occurs; with the exhaustion of action, one attains the true essence, not another. He is the origin, the cause of union and its reason, transcending the three times, though Himself timeless. The all-formed, the source of existence, the worthy deity, established in one’s own mind, should be worshipped first. He is beyond the forms of tree, time, and shape, from whom this world undergoes transformation. Knowing the lord of fortune, who brings righteousness and removes evil, established within oneself, immortal, the abode of all. We know that supreme great lord of lords, the highest divinity among deities, the master of masters, who is beyond all; we know the divine, the lord of the world, worthy of worship. He has neither work nor instrument; nor is there anyone equal or superior to Him. His supreme power is manifold, and His knowledge, strength, and action are inherent. He has no master in the world, nor ruler, nor any mark; He is the cause, the lord of instruments and their masters, and has no creator or overlord. Like a spider with threads, by His own nature, the one divine covers Himself with threads born of the primordial. May that Brahman sustain us all.