"The God of the Gods, after consoling me, on the last occasion, began to answer my questions. He said: "'O Brāhman! Even the gods have failed to know the mysteries of my creation. I will tell thee of it only to please thee. O Rishi! Thy wonderful devotion to thy father and to Me and to spiritual celibacy have won thee this grace; I have appeared before thy vision. In time past I called water by the term "Nār" This Nār is ever my seat, hence I am called Nārāyan. I am the First Cause. I am Eternal, Inexhaustible, the Creator and Destroyer of all that exists. I am all Wealth, I am Death, I am Shiva. Fire is in my mouth, the earth is my feet, the sun is my two eyes, the Celestial Regions are my head, the sky and the cardinal points are my two ears. Space and Eternity are my body, the winds my mind. "'All sacred ceremonies are performed to please Me. All the Vedas come out of and enter into Me. The peace-loving, mind-disciplined, enquiring, soul's-mystery-knowing Brāhmans contemplate and worship Me alone. I am the Fire called Samvartak, I am the Samvartak Winds, and it is I who am the Seven Suns that rise and shine in Pralaya. The stars that thou seest now in the firmament are the pores of my body, the sky is my raiment, the seas my seat and abode. It is I who have divided them as they are. "'Men are born, are overwhelmed by My Māyā and become enterprising through my Law, never through their own desire. Those Brāhmans who thoroughly study the Vedas, perform many spiritual sacrifices, bring peace to their souls and vanquish anger; it is they who attain to Me. Those persons who are addicted to bad actions, are swayed by greed, are misers, crooked-minded and void of soul-culture can never reach Me. The paths of Yoga are as easy for pure souls to tread as they are uncertain to the wicked and the foolish. "'Whenever religion suffers from revolution and vice triumphs over virtue, I create myself and walk the earth and set things right. Whenever are born on the earth the selfish and envious Asuras and Demons so powerful that even the gods cannot destroy them, I in the form of man take birth in the family of pious men and bring peace to the world again by subduing them. I am white-complexioned in the Satya Yuga, yellow in the Tretā, red in the Dwāpar and dark in the Kali. At the end of each great cycle it is I who destroy every thing. I am the Three Paths, the Soul of the Universe, Giver of all Happiness, Superior to All, All-Pervading, the Endless and the All-Powerful. "'At the last Kali Yuga of each Kalpa I spread my illusion upon all beings and enter into my trance-state. When old, old Brahmā, transformed into a child, goes to sleep and keeps sleeping, I rest here on the waters until he is awakened. Now, go thou about on the waters in restful spirit until that time, when I alone will create again earth and sky and light, air and water, and all bodies.'