14. The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines, everything shines after him; by his light all this is lightened.

15. He is the one bird in the midst of the world; he is also (like) the fire (of the sun) that has set in the ocean. A man who knows him truly, passes over death ; there is no other path to go.

16. He makes all, he knows all, the self-caused, the knower , the time of time (destroyer of time), who assumes qualities and knows everything, the master of nature and of man , the lord of the three qualities (guna), the cause of the bondage, the existence, and the liberation of the world .

17. He who has become that , he is the immortal, remaining the lord, the knower, the ever-present guardian of this world, who rules this world for ever, for no one else is able to rule it.

18. Seeking for freedom I go for refuge to that God who is the light of his own thoughts , he who

first creates Brahman (m.) and delivers the Vedas to him;

19. Who is without parts, without actions, tranquil, without fault, without taint , the highest bridge to immortality--like a fire that has consumed its fuel.

20. Only when men shall roll up the sky like a hide, will there be an end of misery, unless God has first been known .

21. Through the power of his penance and through the grace of God has the wise Svetasvatara truly proclaimed Brahman, the highest and holiest, to the best of ascetics , as approved by the company of Rishis.

22. This highest mystery in the Vedanta, delivered in a former age, should not be given to one whose passions have not been subdued, nor to one who is not a son, or who is not a pupil .

23. If these truths have been told to a high-minded man, who feels the highest devotion for God, and for his Guru as for God, then they will shine forth,--then they will shine forth indeed.

Footnotes

^260:1 See Muir, Metrical Translations, p. 198.

^260:2 See before, 1, 2.

^260:3 The destroyer of time. Vignanatman reads kalakalo, and explains it by kalasya niyanta, upaharta. Sankarananda explains kalah sarvavinasakari, tasyapi vinasakarah. See also verse 16.

^260:4 Or sarvavid yah.

^260:5 Instead of vinivartya, Vignanatman and Sankarananda read vinivritya.

^260:6 Aruhya for arabhya, Sankarananda.