FOURTH ADHYAYA.

1. He, the sun, without any colour, who with set purpose by means of his power (sakti) produces endless colours , in whom all this comes together in the beginning, and comes asunder in the end--may he, the god, endow us with good thoughts .

2. That (Self) indeed is Agni (fire), it is Aditya (sun), it is Vayu (wind), it is Kandramas (moon); the same also is the starry firmament , it is Brahman (Hiranyagarbha), it is water, it is Pragapati (Virag).

3. Thou art woman, thou art man; thou art youth, thou art maiden; thou, as an old man, totterest along on thy staff; thou art born with thy face turned everywhere.

4. Thou art the dark-blue bee, thou art the green

parrot with red eyes, thou art the thunder-cloud, the seasons, the seas. Thou art without beginning , because thou art infinite, thou from whom all worlds are born.

5 . There is one unborn being (female), red, white, and black, uniform, but producing manifold offspring. There is one unborn being (male) who loves her and lies by her; there is another who leaves her, while she is eating what has to be eaten.

6 . Two birds, inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating.

7. On the same tree man sits grieving, immersed, bewildered, by his own impotence (an-isa). But when he sees the other lord (isa) contented, and knows his glory, then his grief passes away.

8 . He who does not know that indestructible being of the Rig-Veda, that highest ether-like (Self) wherein all the gods reside, of what use is the Rig-Veda to him? Those only who know it, rest contented.

9. That from which the maker (mayin ) sends forth all this--the sacred verses, the offerings, the sacrifices, the panaceas, the past, the future, and all

that the Vedas declare--in that the other is bound up through that maya.

10. Know then Prakriti (nature) is Maya (art), and the great Lord the Mayin (maker); the whole world is filled with what are his members.

11. If a man has discerned him, who being one only, rules over every germ (cause), in whom all this comes together and comes asunder again, who is the lord, the bestower of blessing, the adorable god, then he passes for ever into that peace.

12 . He, the creator and supporter of the gods, Rudra, the great seer, the lord of all, who saw , Hiranyagarbha being born, may he endow us with good thoughts.

13. He who is the sovereign of the gods, he in whom all the worlds rest, he who rules over all two-footed and four-footed beings, to that god let us sacrifice an oblation.

14. He who has known him who is more subtile than subtile, in the midst of chaos, creating all things, having many forms, alone enveloping everything , the happy one (Siva), passes into peace for ever.