SECTION XLIV
"Brahmana said, 'I shall now tell you truly about all that which has a
beginning, middle, and end, and which is endued with name and
characteristics, together with the means of apprehension. It has been
said that the Day was first, Then arose Night. The Months are said to
have the lighted fortnights first. The constellations have Sravana for
their first; the Seasons have that of dews (viz., Winter) for their
first. Earth is the source of all smells; and Water of all tastes. The
solar light is the source of all colours: the Wind of all sensations of
touch. Likewise, of sound the source is space (or Ether). These are the
qualities of elements. I shall, after this, declare that which is the
first and the highest of all entities. The sun is the first of all
lighted bodies. Fire is said to be the first of all the elements. Savitri
is the first of all branches of learning. Prajapati is the first of all
the deities. The syllable Om is the first of all the Vedas, and the
life-wind Prana is the first of all winds. All that is called Savitri
which is prescribed in this world.[130] The Gayatri is the first of all
metres; of all (sacrificial) animals the first is the goat. Kine are the
first of all quadrupeds. The twiceborn ones are the first of all human
beings. The hawk is the first of all birds. Of sacrifices the first is
the pouring of clarified butter on the fire. Of all reptiles the first, O
foremost of regenerate ones, is the snake. The Krita is the first of all
the Yugas; there is no doubt in this. Gold is the first of all precious
things. Barley is the first of all plants. Food is the first of all
things to be eaten or swallowed. Of all liquid substances to be drunk,
water is the foremost. Of all immobile entities without distinction,
Plaksha is said to be the first, that ever holy field of Brahman. Of all
the Prajapatis I am the first. There is no doubt in this. Of
inconceivable soul, the self-existent Vishnu is said to be my
superior.[131] Of all the mountains the great Meru is said to be the
first-born. Of all the cardinal and subsidiary points of the horizon, the
eastern is said to be the foremost and first-born. Ganga of three courses
is said to be the firstborn of all rivers. Likewise, of all wells and
reservoirs of waters, the ocean is said to be the first-born. Iswara is
the supreme Lord of all the deities and Danavas and ghostly beings and
Pisachas, and snakes and Makshasas and human beings and Kinnaras and
Yakshas. The great Vishnu, who is full of Brahma, than whom there is no
higher being in the three worlds, is the first of all the universe. Of
all the modes of life, that of the householder is the first. Of this
there is no doubt. The Unmanifest is the source of all the worlds as,
indeed, that is the end of every thing. Days end with the sun's setting
and Nights with the sun's rising. The end of pleasure is always sorrow,
and the end of sorrow is always pleasure. All accumulations have
exhaustion for their end, and all ascent have falls for their end. All
associations have dissociations for their end, and life has death for its
end. All action ends in destruction, and all that is born is certain to
meet with death. Every mobile and immobile thing in this world is
transient. Sacrifice, gift, penances, study, vows, observances,--all
these have destruction for their end. Of Knowledge, there is no end.
Hence, one that is possessed of a tranquil soul, that has subjugated his
senses, that is freed from the sense of meum, that is devoid of egoism,
is released from all sins by pure knowledge.'"
