After expressing the same idea in various passages, he has written the following stanza at the conclusion of his work:-- "That whereof the three divine forms are declared in the text of the Veda, sufficiently "Has that been set forth; this is the whole majesty in the splendour of the Veda; "The first incarnation of the Wind-god was he that bowed to the words of Ráma (Hanumat); the second was Bhíma; "By this Madhva, who is the third, this book has been composed in regard to Keśava." The import of this stanza may be learnt by considering various Vedic texts. The purport of this is that Vishṇu is the principle above all others in every system of sacred institutes. Thus all is clear.[111] A. E. G. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 111: For a further account of Ánanda-tírtha or Madhva see Wilson, Works, vol. i. pp. 138-150. His Commentary on the Brahma-sútras has been printed in Calcutta.] CHAPTER VI. THE PÁŚUPATA SYSTEM OF NAKULÍŚA. Certain Máheśvaras disapprove of this doctrine of the Vaishṇavas known by its technicalities of the servitude of souls and the like, inasmuch as bringing with it the pains of dependence upon another, it cannot be a means of cessation of pain and other desired ends. They recognise as stringent such arguments as, Those depending on another and longing for independence do not become emancipated, because they still depend upon another, being destitute of independence like ourselves and others; and, Liberated spirits possess the attributes of the Supreme Deity, because at the same time, that they are spirits they are free from the germ of every pain as the Supreme Deity is. Recognising these arguments, these Máheśvaras adopt the Páśupata system, which is conversant about the exposition of five categories, as the means to the highest end of man. In this system the first aphorism is: Now then we shall expound the Páśupata union and rites of Paśupati. The meaning is as follows:--The word _now_ refers to something antecedent, and this something antecedent is the disciple's interrogation of the spiritual teacher. The nature of a spiritual teacher is explicated in the Gaṇakáriká:-- "But there are eight pentads to be known, and a group, one with three factors; "He that knows this ninefold aggregate is a self-purifier, a spiritual guide. "The acquisitions, the impurities, the expedients, the localities, the perseverance, the purifications, "The initiations, and the powers, are the eight pentads; and there are three functions." The employment in the above line of the neuter numeral three (_tríṇi_), instead of the feminine three (_tisraḥ_), is a Vedic construction. (_a._) Acquisition is the fruit of an expedient while realising, and is divided into five members, viz., knowledge, penance, permanence of the body, constancy, and purity. Thus Haradattáchárya says: Knowledge, penance, permanence, constancy, and purity as the fifth.