is the cause of both the creation and the destruction of the universe; of him who is superior to all the celestials, the Asuras, and the Munis, of him who has nothing higher, who is unborn, who is the Lord of all things, who has neither beginning nor end, and who is endued with supreme puissance, who is possessed of the highest felicity, and who is effulgent and sinless.—­After he had said these words, Tandi beheld before him that ocean of penances, that great Deity who is immutable and undeteriorating, who is without compare, who is inconceivable, who is eternal, and who is without any change, who is indivisible, who is whole, who is Brahma, who transcends all attributes, and who is endued with attributes, who is the highest delight of Yogins, who is without deterioration, who is called Emancipation, who is the refuge of the Mind, of Indra, of Agni, of the god of wind, of the entire universe, and of the Grandsire Brahma; who is incapable of being conceived by the Mind, who is without mutation of any kind, who is pure, who is capable of being apprehended by understanding only and who is immaterial as the Mind; who is difficult of comprehension, who is incapable of being measured, who is difficult of being attained by persons of uncleansed souls, who is the origin of the universe, and who transcends both the universe and the attribute of darkness; who is ancient, who is Purusha, who is possessed of effulgence, and who is higher than the highest.  The Rishi Tandin, desirous of beholding Him who making himself endued with life-breaths, resides in what results from it viz., Jiva, in the form of that effulgence which is called the Mind, passed many years in the practice of the severest austerities, and having succeeded in beholding Him as the reward of those penances, he praised the great God in the following terms.’

“Tandi said, ’Thou art the holiest of holies[77] and the refuge of all, O foremost of all beings endued with intelligence.  Thou art the fiercest energy of all kinds of energy.  Thou art the austerest penance of all penances.  Thou, O puissant one, art the liberal giver of blessings.  Thou art the supreme Truth.  Salutations to thee, O thou of a thousand rays, and, O refuge of all felicity.  Thou art the giver of that Nirvana which, O puissant one, Yatis, standing in fear of birth and death, strive for so hard.  The Grandsire Brahma, he of a hundred sacrifices, (viz., Indra) Vishnu, the Viswadevas, the great Rishis, are incapable of comprehending thee and thy real nature.  How then can persons like ourselves hope to comprehend thee?  From thee flows everything.  Upon thee rests everything.  Thou art called Kala, thou art called Purusha, thou art called Brahma.  Celestial Rishis conversant with the Puranas, say that thou hast three bodies viz., those pertaining to Kalas, those pertaining to Purusha and those pertaining to Brahma or the three forms namely Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra.  Thou art Adhi-Purusha, (occupying the physical flame from head