15. He also was in time the guardian of this world, the lord of all, hidden in all beings. In him the Brahmarshis and the deities are united , and he who knows him cuts the fetters of death asunder.

16. He who knows Siva (the blessed) hidden in all beings, like the subtile film that rises from out the clarified butter , alone enveloping everything,--he who knows the god, is freed from all fetters.

17. That god, the maker of all things, the great Self , always dwelling in the heart of man, is perceived by the heart, the soul, the mind ;--they who know it become immortal.

18. When the light has risen , there is no day, no night, neither existence nor non-existence ; Siva (the blessed) alone is there. That is the eternal, the adorable light of Savitri ,--and the ancient wisdom proceeded thence.

19. No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle . There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory.

20. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and

mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.

21. 'Thou art unborn,' with these words some one comes near to thee, trembling. O Rudra, let thy gracious face protect me for ever!

22 . O Rudra! hurt us not in our offspring and descendants, hurt us not in our own lives, nor in our cows, nor in our horses! Do not slay our men in thy wrath, for, holding oblations, we call on thee always.

Footnotes

^249:1 Nihitartha, explained by Sankara as grihitaprayoganah svarthanirapekshah. This may mean with set purpose, but if we read agrihitaprayoganah it would mean the contrary, namely, without any definite object, irrespective of his own objects. This is possible, and perhaps more in accordance with the idea of creation as propounded by those to whom the devatmasakti is maya. Nihita would then mean hidden.

^249:2 Colour is intended for qualities, differences, &c.

^249:3 This verse has been translated very freely. As it stands, vi kaiti kante visvam adau sa devah, it does not construe, in spite of all attempts to the contrary, made by Sankara. What is intended is yasminn idam sam ka vi kaiti sarvam (IV, 11); but how so simple a line should have been changed into what we read now, is difficult to say.

^249:4 This is the explanation of Sankara, and probably that of the Yoga schools in India at his time. But to take sukram for diptiman nakshatradi, brahma for Hiranyagarbha, and Pragapati for Virag seems suggested by this verse only.

^249:5 Vankayasi, an exceptional form, instead of vankasi (A. B.)

^250:1 We see throughout the constant change from the masculine to the neuter gender, in addressing either the lord or his true essence.