FIFTH PRAPATHAKA .

1. Next follows Kutsayana's hymn of praise:

'Thou art Brahma, and thou art Vishnu, thou art Rudra, thou Pragapati , thou art Agni, Varuna, Vayu, thou art Indra, thou the Moon.

Thou art Anna (the food or the eater), thou art Yama, thou art the Earth, thou art All, thou art the Imperishable. In thee all things exist in many forms, whether for their natural or for their own (higher) ends.

Lord of the Universe, glory to thee! Thou art the Self of All, thou art the maker of All, the enjoyer of All; thou art all life, and the lord of all pleasure and joy . Glory to thee, the tranquil, the deeply hidden, the incomprehensible, the immeasurable, without beginning and without end.'

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2. 'In the beginning darkness (tamas) alone was this. It was in the Highest, and, moved by the Highest, it becomes uneven. Thus it becomes obscurity

(ragas) . Then this obscurity, being moved, becomes uneven. Thus it becomes goodness (sattva). Then this goodness, being moved, the essence flowed forth . This is that part (or state of Self) which is entirely intelligent, reflected in man (as the sun is in different vessels of water) knowing the body (kshetragna), attested by his conceiving, willing, and believing, it is Pragapati, called Visva. His manifestations have been declared before . Now that part of him which belongs to darkness, that, O students , is he who is called Rudra. That part of him which belongs to obscurity, that, O students, is he who is called Brahma. That part of him which belongs to goodness, that, O students, is he who is called Vishnu. He being one, becomes three, becomes eight , becomes eleven , becomes twelve, becomes infinite. Because he thus came to be, he is the Being (neut.), he moves about, having entered all beings, he has become the Lord of all beings. He is the Self within and without, yes, within and without.'

Footnotes

^303:1 At the beginning of the fifth Prapathaka my MS. gives the Slokas which in the printed edition are found in VI, 34, p. 178, Atreme sloka bhavanti, yatha nirindhano vahnir, &c., to nirvishayam smritam. Then follows as section 2, Atha yathedam Kautsyayanistutis, tvam, &c.

^303:2 The commentator explains Brahma by Hiranyagarbha and Pragapati by Virag.

^303:3 M. reads tvam Manus, tvam Yamas ka tvam, prithivi tvam athakyutah, which is so clearly the right reading that it is difficult to understand how the mistakes arose which are presupposed by the commentary. See Taitt. Up. II, 2.

^303:4 M. reads visvakridaratih prabhuh, which seems better.

^303:5 M. reads tamo va idam ekam asta tat paro syat tat pareneritam. It may have been tat pare 'sthat.

^304:1 M. reads etad vai ragaso rupam, which is better, or, at least, more in accordance with what follows.

^304:2 M. reads sattvam everitarasas sam prasrivat.