"I shall relate to thee here a conversation between Nârada and Nârâyana. "Once upon a time Nârada went to see the great Rishi Nârâyana. For the well-being of Bhâratavarsha, for the good of all men, he remains in his Âsrama, fixed in Tapas, since the beginning of this Kalpa. The Rishis of Kalâpa sat round him. Nârada saluted him and asked this very question. "Nârâyana said: — "In Jana Loka, the Manas, born Rishis of that place performed Brahmâ Yajna (Yajna, in which ’What is Brahmân’ is ascertained, some one becoming the speaker and others forming the audience). You had gone to Sveta Dvipa at the time. This very question was raised in the assembly. Sanandan became the speaker. He said: — "The Supreme drank up his own creation and lay asleep with His Śaktis. At the end of Pralaya, the Srutis (which were the first breath of the Supreme. _Śridhara_) roused Him up by words denotive of Him. "The Srutis said: — "Glory be to Thee! Destroy the Avidyâ of all moveable and immoveable beings. She has got attributes for the sake of deluding others. All Thy powers are completely confined in Thee. Thou art the Manifester of all Śaktis in Jivas. Thou art (sometimes — _Śridhara_) with Mâyâ and (always — _Śridhara_) by Thyself. (But wherever thou art) the Vedas follow Thee. (The Vedas treat both of Saguna and Nirguna Brahmân). "All that are perceived, (Indra and other gods), know Thee to be the Big, and themselves to be only parts. For their rise and setting are from Thee. (Then is the Big transformable? Hence the next words. _Śridhara_). But thou art untransformed. Even as the (transformed) earth pots have their rise and setting in the (untransformed) mother earth. Therefore the Rishis — (the Mantras or their perceivers. _Śridhara_. Every Vedic Mantra has its Rishi, who first perceived that Mantra) — set their minds, their words and actions in Thee (or had their purport and meaning in Thee. _Śridhara_). For wherever people may roam, their footsteps always touch the earth. "O Thou Lord of the Three Gunas, the wise plunged into the nectar ocean formed of words about Thee, — an Ocean which removes the impurities of all people — and they got rid of all miseries. What of those then who, by the perception of Self in them, free themselves from the attributes of mind (likes or dislikes) and of time (the transformations of age) and worship Thy real self which gives rise to perpetual happiness? "Those that are animated by life breathe truly if they follow Thee, otherwise their breath is the breath of bellows. Inspired by Thee, Mahat, Ahankâra and others lay their eggs (create collective and individual bodies). Thou dost permeate the five sheaths (Annamaya and others) in man and become those sheaths, as it were, by this permeation. But thou art the last in the sheaths, as taught in the Upanishads. "Thou art beyond the gross and subtle sheaths, the Indestructible and Real.