Indra is said to be the king of the Maruts.  Arka is the king of all hot bodies, and Indra of all luminous bodies.  Agni is the eternal lord of the elements, and Vrihaspati of the Brahmanas.  Soma is the lord of (deciduous) herbs, and Vishnu is the foremost of all that are endued with might.  Tashtri is the king of Rudras, and Siva of all creatures.  Sacrifice is the foremost of all initiatory rites, and Maghavat of the deities.  The North is the lord of all the points of the compass; Soma of great energy is the lord of all learned Brahmanas.  Kuvera is the lord of all precious gems, and Purandara of all the deities.  Such is the highest creation among all entities.  Prajapati is the lord of all creatures.  Of all entities whatever, I, who am full of Brahman, am the foremost.  There is no entity that is higher than myself or Vishnu.  The great Vishnu, who is full of Brahman, is the king of kings over all.  Know him to be the ruler, the creator, the uncreated Hari.  He is the ruler of men and Kinnaras and Yakshas and Gandharvas, and Snakes and Rakshasas, and deities and Danavas and Nagas.  Among those that are followed by persons full of desire is the great goddess Maheswari of beautiful eyes.  She is otherwise called by the name of Parvati.  Know that the goddess Uma is the foremost and the most auspicious of women.  Among women that are a source of pleasure, the foremost are the Apsaras who are possessed of great splendour.[127] Kings are desirous of acquiring piety, and Brahmanas are causeways of piety.  Therefore, the king should always strive to protect the twice-born ones.  Those kings in whose dominions good men languish are regarded as bereft of the virtues of their order.  Hereafter they have to go into wrong paths.  Those kings in whose dominions good men are protected, rejoice in this world and enjoy happiness hereafter.  Verily, those high-souled ones attain to the highest seat.  Understand this, ye foremost of regenerate ones.  I shall after this state the everlasting indications of duties.  Abstention from injury is the highest duty.  Injury is an indication of unrighteousness.  Splendour is the indication of the deities.  Men have acts for their indications.  Ether (or space) has sound for its characteristic.  Wind has touch for its characteristic.  The characteristic of lighted bodies is colour, and water has taste for its characteristic.  Earth, which holds all entities, has smell for its characteristic.  Speech has words for its characteristic, refined into vowels and consonants.  Mind has thought for its characteristic.  Thought has, again, been said to be the characteristic of the understanding.  The things thought of by the mind are ascertained with accuracy by the understanding.  There is no doubt in this, viz., that the understanding, by perseverance, perceives all things.  The characteristic of mind is meditation.  The characteristic of the good man is to live unperceived.[128] Devotion has acts for its characteristic.  Knowledge is