Canto Ten - Chapter 40

Śrī Akrūra said: I bow to You, Nārāyaṇa, the primeval and imperishable Person, the cause behind all causes. From the lotus whorl born of Your navel arose Brahmā, from whom this universe appeared.

Earth, water, fire, air, space, false ego, the great principle, primordial nature, mind, the senses, every object of the senses, and all the gods are constituent limbs of Yours and causes of the universe.

Yet Brahmā and all these other entities do not know Your true nature, for they themselves are nonconscious and subject to being perceived. Even the unborn living being, bound by the qualities of unborn Nature, cannot know Your nature beyond those qualities.

Saintly yogīs directly worship You as the Supreme Person and sovereign Lord, present as the inner self, as the material elements, and as the governing deities.

Some twice-born priests devoted to Vedic rites worship You through the threefold Vedic knowledge, performing elaborate sacrifices to Your many manifestations bearing the names of different gods.

Other seekers of knowledge renounce all fruitive acts and enter tranquility. Through the sacrifice of knowledge they worship You, the very embodiment of knowledge.

Others, whose selves have been purified by the method You prescribed, become wholly absorbed in You and worship You as the one form manifest in many forms.

Still others follow the path taught by Śiva. Through the distinct teachings of many preceptors, they worship You, Bhagavān, in the form of Śiva.

Almighty Lord, even devotees of other deities are truly worshiping You, the sovereign who contains all the gods, although their understanding is directed elsewhere.

Lord, just as rivers born from mountains and filled by rain enter the ocean from every direction, all paths ultimately lead to You.

Sattva, rajas, and tamas are qualities of Your material nature. All conditioned beings, from Brahmā down to immobile life, are woven through these qualities.

I bow to You, whose vision is unattached, who are the Self within all and the witness of every mind. The current of material qualities created by ignorance flows through the bodies of gods, humans, and animals.

Fire is conceived as Your mouth, the earth as Your feet, the sun as Your eye, the sky as Your navel, and the directions as Your sense of hearing. Heaven is Your head, the lords of the gods are Your arms, the oceans are Your abdomen, and the wind is Your breath and vital power.

Trees and plants are the hairs upon Your body, clouds the hair of Your head, and mountains Your bones and nails. Day and night are the closing and opening of Your eyes, Prajāpati is Your generative organ, and rain is regarded as Your seed.

Imperishable Self, all worlds with their guardians and multitudes of living beings are conceived within You, the Supreme Person, as aquatic creatures move within water or tiny insects within an udumbara fruit fashioned by the mind.

Whatever forms You assume here for the sake of divine play remove the worlds' suffering, and in joy the people sing Your glory.

I bow to the causal Fish who moved through the ocean of dissolution. I bow to You as Hayagrīva, destroyer of Madhu and Kaiṭabha.

I bow to the immense Tortoise who supported Mount Mandara, and to Your Boar form, who playfully raised the earth.

I bow to You as the wondrous Man-Lion who dispelled the fear of the saintly. I bow to You as Vāmana, who traversed the three worlds.

I bow to the lord of Bhṛgu's descendants, who cut down the forest of arrogant rulers. I bow to You as the foremost Rāghava, who brought Rāvaṇa to his end.

I bow to Vāsudeva and to Saṅkarṣaṇa. I bow to Pradyumna and Aniruddha, and to the Lord of the Sātvatas.

I bow to the pure Buddha, who deludes the Daityas and Dānavas. I bow to You in the form of Kalki, destroyer of rulers who have become little better than outcastes.

Bhagavān, this world of living beings is bewildered by Your Māyā. Grasping the unreal notions of 'I' and 'mine,' it wanders along the paths of karma.

Almighty Lord, I too am a fool, wandering among notions of self, children, home, spouse, wealth, relatives, and the rest. Though these are no more substantial than a dream, I regard them as real.

My understanding is inverted toward what is impermanent, not the Self, and filled with suffering. Delighting in dualities and enveloped in darkness, I do not know You, who are dearest to the Self.

Just as a fool abandons water hidden beneath the plants that cover it and runs toward a mirage, I have turned away from You and pursued illusion.

Miserly in understanding, I cannot restrain my mind, which has been ruined by desire and fruitive action and is dragged here and there by the turbulent senses.

Thus I have approached Your feet, which those devoted to the unreal cannot attain. Lord, I regard even this as Your grace, for when a person's wandering through saṃsāra is about to end, his mind turns to the true worship of You, lotus-naveled Lord.

I bow to pure consciousness alone, the cause of every cognition; to the Lord of both the individual person and primordial nature; to Brahman of limitless potency.

I bow to You, Vāsudeva, the indwelling abode of all beings. Hṛṣīkeśa, I bow to You. Almighty Lord, I have surrendered; please protect me.