1. Some poets speak of own nature,
Others, likewise, of time�being deluded.
It is the greatness of the god in the world
By which the wheel of brahman is made to turn.
2. Directed by him the work unfolds
Which is thought of as earth, water, fire, air and space:
Him by whom all this is ever enfolded,
Who is knower, time-maker, possessor of the strands, all-wise.
3. He did the work and ceased from it again,
Then entered union with the entity (tattva) of entity,
By one, by two, by three, by eight,
By time and by the subtle strands of self.
4. Since he undertook the works which are endowed with strands,
So as to apportion all existences,
In their absence, the work which has been done disappears;
When the work perishes, he goes on, being other than entity.
5. He is seen as the beginning, the efficient cause of union,
Beyond the three times, without fractions�
When one first contemplates in one's own heart
That worshipful god, of all forms, who has become whatever is.
6. He is higher and other than the appearances of time and the tree,
He from whom this proliferation evolves�
When one knows him in the self, as bringer of dharma,
Averter of evil, lord of happiness, immortal, abode of all.
7. Let us know him as supreme, great lord of lords,
Supreme deity of deities,
Supreme master of masters, beyond,
The god, worshipful lord of the world.
8. For him there exists nothing to be done and no organ of action.
His equal or superior cannot be seen.
His supreme power is revealed to be manifold.
The action of knowledge and strength is his by nature.
9. He has no master in the world,
No ruler nor any mark:
He is the cause, the overlord of overlords of action:
He has no begetter, nor any overlord.
10. May the one god
Who, spider-like, from his own nature
Enfolds himself with threads produced from primal matter
Ordain for us entry into brahman:
11. The one god hidden in all beings,
All pervading, within the self of all,
Overseer of deeds, dwelling in all beings,
Witness, watcher, absolute, without strands.
12. The wise who see him in the self,
The one controlling the many inactive ones,
Who makes the one seed into many,
Have everlasting happiness: no others do.
13. Knowing the god, the cause, approachable through Sarikhya and Yoga,
Permanent among the impermanent, thinker among thinkers,
One among many, who disposes desires,
One is released from all bonds.
14. The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and stars.
Lightning does not shine there, let alone fire.
Everything reflects his shining.
Everything is lit by his light.
15. He is the one goose in the midst of the world:
He is the fire dwelling in the water.
Knowing him, one goes beyond death:
There is no other path by which to go.
16. All-making, all-knowing, source of the self,
Who is knower, time-maker, possessor of the strands, all-wise,
Lord of primal matter and of the conscious mind, ruler of strands,
Cause of samsdra and moksa, stability and bondage.
17. He who rules this world for ever
Is of such a kind, immortal, resting as the lord,
Knower, omnipresent, protector of this world.
No other cause can be found to rule.
18. Longing for freedom, I go for refuge
To the god who shines with his own intelligence,
Who creates Brahma of old,
And bestows the Vedas on him,
19. Without fractions, without actions, at peace,
Irreproachable, unstained,
Bridge to the far shore of immortality,
Like a fire with its fuel burnt up,
20. When human folk
Roll space up like a hide,
There will be an end to sorrow
Apart from knowing the god.
21. By the power of asceticism and the god's
favour vetasvatara knew brahman:
He taught it rightly to those beyond the stages,
The supreme purifier, pleasing to the community of Rsis.
22. The supreme secret in the Vedanta,
Proclaimed in an earlier age,
Should not be given to one who is not at peace,
Nor yet to one who is not a son or a student.
23. The subjects that have been discussed
Shine clear to the great-hearted one
Who has the highest devotion to the god
And to his guru as to the god�
Shine clear to the great-hearted one.
