head.  I am thy form, the celestials constitute thy limbs, and the Sun, the moon are thy two eyes.  Ascetic austerities and Truth born of morality and (religious) rites, constitute thy strength.  Fire is thy energy, the wind is thy breath, and the waters have sprung from thy sweat.  The twins Aswins constitute thy ears, and the goddess Saraswati is thy tongue.  The Vedas are thy Knowledge, and upon thee resteth this Universe.  O Lord of Yoga and Yogins, we do not know thy extent, thy measure, thy energy, thy prowess, thy might, thy origin.  O God, O Vishnu, filled with devotion in thee, and depending upon thee with vows and observances, we ever worship Thee as the highest Lord, the God of gods.  The Rishis, the gods, Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Rakshasas, the Pannagas, the Pisachas, human beings, beasts, birds, reptiles,—­all these were created by me on Earth through Thy grace.  O thou having the lotus springing from thy navel, O thou of large expansive eyes, O Krishna, O Dispeller of all woe, Thou art the Refuge of all creatures, and Thou art their Guide.  Thou hast the Universe for thy mouth.  Through thy grace, O Lord of the gods, the gods are ever happy.  Through thy grace the Earth hath always been freed from terrors.  Therefore, O thou of large eyes, take birth in the race of Yadu.[386] For the sake of establishing righteousness, for slaying the sons of Diti, and for upholding the Universe, do what I have said, O Lord.  O Vasudeva, that which is thy supreme mystery, that, O Lord hath been sung by me through Thy grace.  Having created the divine Sankarshana out of thy own Self by Thyself, thou didst then, O Krishna, create Thyself as Pradyumna born of thyself.  From Pradyumna thou didst then create Aniruddha who is known as the eternal Vishnu.  And it was Aniruddha who created me as Brahma, the upholder of the Universe.  Created out of Vasudeva’s essence I have, therefore, been created by thee.  Dividing Thyself into portions, take birth, O Lord, among human beings.  And slaughtering the Asuras there for happiness of all the worlds, and establishing righteousness, and winning renown, Thou wilt again truly attain to Yoga.  The regenerate Rishis on Earth and the gods, O thou of infinite prowess, devoted to thee, sing of thy wonderous Self under those names that belong to thee.  O thou of excellent arms, all classes of creatures rest on thee, having taken refuge in Thee, thou giver of boons.  The regenerate ones sing Thee as the world’s bridge, having no beginning, middle and end, and as possessed of unlimited Yoga.’”

SECTION LXVI

“Bhishma said, ’Then that illustrious Deity, the Lord of the worlds, replied unto Brahma in a soft deep voice, saying,—­’Through Yoga, O sire, all that is wished by thee is known to me.  It will be even as thou wishest,—­And saying this, he disappeared then and there.  Then the gods, Rishis, and Gandharvas, filled with great wonder and curiosity all asked the Grandsire, saying,—­’Who