in which there is nothing of injury to any creature,—­that Hari the Supreme Lord becomes gratified.  Some persons adore Narayana as possessed of only one form, viz., that of Aniruddha.  Some adore Him as endued with two forms, viz., that of Aniruddha and Pradyumna.  Some adore Him as having three forms, viz., Aniruddha, Pradyumna, and Sankarshana.  A fourth class adore him as consisting of four forms, viz., Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Sankarshana, and Vasudeva.  Hari is Himself the Kshetrajna (Soul).  He is without parts (being ever full).  He is the Jiva in all creatures, transcending the five primal elements.  He is the Mind, O monarch, that directs and controls the five senses.  Endued with the highest intelligence.  He is the Ordainer of the universe, and the Creator thereof.  He is both active and inactive.  He is both Cause and the Effect.  He is the one immutable Purusha, who sports as He likes, O king.  Thus have I recited to thee the religion of desireless Devotees, O best of kings, incapable of being comprehended by persons of uncleansed souls but this I acquired through the grace of my preceptor.  Persons are very rare, O king, that are devoted to Narayana with whole souls.  If, O son of Kuru’s race the world had been full of such persons, that are full of universal compassion, that are endued with knowledge of the soul, and that are always employed in doing good to others, then the Krita age would have set in.  All men would have betaken themselves to the accomplishment of acts without desire of fruit.  It was even in this way, O monarch, that, that foremost of regenerate persons, (viz., the illustrious Vyasa), my preceptor, fully conversant with all duties, discoursed unto king Yudhishthira the just on this religion of Devotion, in the presence of many Rishis and in the hearing of Krishna and Bhishma.  He had obtained it from the celestial Rishi Narada endued with wealth of penances.  Those persons that are devoted to Narayana with their whole souls and are desireless succeed in attaining to the region of that highest of deities, identical with Brahma, pure in complexion, possessed of the effulgence of the moon and endued with immutability.

Janamejaya said, “I see that those regenerate persons whose souls have been awakened practise diverse kinds of duties.  Why is it that other Brahmanas instead of practising those duties betake themselves to the observance of other kinds of vows and rites?”

Vaisampayana said, “Three kinds of disposition, O monarch, have been created in respect of all embodied creatures, viz., that which relates to the attribute of Sattwa, that which relates to the attribute of Rajas, and lastly that which relates to the attribute of Tamas, O Bharata.  As regards embodied creatures, O perpetuator of Kuru’s race, that person is the foremost who is wedded to the attribute of Sattwa, for, O tiger among men, it is certain that he will attain to Emancipation.  It is with the aid of this very attribute of Sattwa