as I have already told thee, my own self).  All the deities, including Brahma and Indra and the deities and the great Rishis, adore Narayana, that foremost of deities, otherwise called by the name of Hari.  Vishnu is the foremost of all Beings past, present, or future, and as such should always be adored and worshipped with reverence.  Do thou bow thy head unto Vishnu.  Do thou bow thy head unto Him who gives protection to all.  Do thou bow, O son of Kunti, unto that great boon-giving deity, that foremost of deities, who eats the offerings made unto him in sacrifices.  I have heard that there are four kinds of worshippers, viz., those who are eager for a religious life, those who are enquirers, those who strive to comprehend what they learn and those who are wise.  Among them all, they that are devoted to realising the self and do not adore any other deity, are the foremost.  I am the end they seek, and though engaged in acts, they never seek the fruits thereof.  The three remaining classes of my worshippers are those that are desirous of the fruits of their acts.  They attain to regions of great felicity, but then they have to fall down therefrom upon the exhaustion of their merits.  Those amongst my worshippers, therefore, that are fully awakened (and, as such, that know that all happiness is terminable except what is attainable by persons that become identified with me) obtain what is foremost (and invaluable).[1852] Those that are awakened and whose conduct displays such enlightenment, may be engaged in adoring Brahman or Mahadeva or the other deities that occur in heaven but they succeed at least in attaining to myself.  I have thus told thee, O Partha, what the distinctions are between my worshippers.  Thyself, O son of Kunti, and myself are known as Nara and Narayana.  Both of us have assumed human bodies only for the purpose of lightening the burden of the Earth.  I am fully cognisant of self-knowledge.  I know who I am and whence I am, O Bharata.  I know the religion of Nivritti, and all that contributes to the prosperity of creatures.  Eternal as I am, I am the one sole Refuge of all men.  The waters have been called by the name of Nara, for they sprang from Him called Nara.  And since the waters in former times, were my refuge, I am, therefore, called by the name of Narayana.  Assuming the form of the Sun I cover the universe with my rays.  And because I am the home of all creatures, therefore, am I called by the name of Vasudeva.  I am the end of all creatures and their sire, O Bharata.  I pervade the entire firmament on high and the Earth, O Partha, and my splendour transcends every other splendour.  I am He, O Bharata, whom all creatures wish to attain to at the time of death.  And because I pervade all the universe, I have come to be called by the name of Vishnu.  Desirous of attaining to success through restraint of their senses, people seek to attain to me who am heaven and Earth and the firmament between the two.  For this am I called