On earth the Kshatriya chiefs that rule over men,
in performing their sacrifices from desire of obtaining heaven, and the
Vaisyas also in performing theirs from desire of winning those happy
regions, all worship me at such times and by those ceremonials. It is I
who, assuming the form of Sesha support (on my head) this earth bounded
by the four seas and decked by Meru and Mandara. And O regenerate one,
it is I who, assuming the form of a boar, had raised in days of yore
this earth sunk in water. And, O best of Brahmanas, it is I who,
becoming the fire that issues out of the _Equine mouth_, drink up the
waters (of the ocean) and create them again. In consequence of my energy
from my mouth, my arms, my thighs, and my feet gradually sprang
Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and Sudras. It is from me that the
_Rik_, the _Sama_, the _Yajus_, and the _Atharvan_ Vedas spring, and it
is in me that they all enter when the time cometh. Brahmanas devoted to
asceticism, they that value Peace as the highest attribute, they that
have their souls under complete control, they that are desirous of
knowledge, they that are freed from lust and wrath and envy, they that
are unwedded to things of the earth, they that have their sins
completely washed away, they that are possessed of gentleness and
virtue, and are divested of pride, they that have a full knowledge of
the Soul, all worship me with profound meditation. I am the flame known
as _Samvartaka_, I am the Wind called by that name, I am the Sun wearing
that appellation, and I am the fire that hath that designation.
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