Brahman said Among men, the royal Kshatriya is gifted with the middle quality. Among vehicles, the elephant (is so); and among dwellers of the forest the lion; among all (sacrificial) animals, the sheep; among all those that live in holes, is the snake; among cattle, the bull; among females, the male.

There is no doubt in this that in this world, the Nyagrodha, the Jambu, the Pippala, the Shalmali, the Shinshapa, the Meshashringa, and the Kichaka, are the foremost ones among trees.

Himavat, Pariyatra, Pariyatra, Sahya, Vindhya, Trikutavat, Shveta, Nila, Bhasa, Kushthavat, Guruskandha, Mahendra, and Malayavat, these are the foremost of mountains. Likewise the Maruts are the foremost of the Ganas.

The Sun is the lord of all the planets, and the Moon of all the constellations. Yama is the lord of the departed manes; Ocean is the lord of all rivers.

Varuna is the king of the waters. Indra is said to be the king of the Maruts. Arka is the king of all hot bodies, and Indra of all luminous bodies.

Agni is the eternal lord of the elements, and Brihaspati of the Brahmanas. Soma is the lord herbs, and Vishnu is the foremost of all that are gifted with might.

Tvashtri is the king of Rudras, and Shiva of all creatures. Sacrifice is the foremost of all initiatory rites and Maghavat of the celestials.

The North is the lord of all the points of the compass; the energetic Soma is the lord of all learned Brahmanas. Kubera is the lord of all precious gems, and Purandara of all the celestials.

Such is the highest creation among all entities. Prajapati is the lord of all creatures. Of all entities whatever, I, who am full of Brahma, am the foremost.

There is no entity that is higher than myself or Vishnu. The great Vishnu, who is full of Brahma, is the king of kings over all. Know him to be the king, the creator, the uncreated Hari.

He is the ruler of men and Kinnaras and Yakshas and Gandharvas, and snakes and Rakshasas, and celestials and Danavas and Nagas.

Among those that are followed by persons full of desire is the great goddess Mahesvari having beautiful eyes.

She is otherwisc called by the name of Parvati. Know that the goddess Uma is the foremost and the most auspicious of women. Ainong women who are a source of pleasure, the foremost are the Apsaras who are endued with great splendour.

Kings are desirous of acquiring piety, and Brahmanas are causeways of Piety. Therefore, the king should always strive to protect the twice-born ones.

Those kings in whose kingdoms good men languish are considered as bereft of the virtues of their order. Hereafter they have to go into wrong paths.

Those kings in whose territories good men are protected, rejoice in this world and enjoy happiness in the next.

Indeed, those great ones attain to the highest seat. Understand this, you foremost of twice-born ones! I shall after this describe the eternal characteristics of duties.

Abstention from injury is the highest duty, Injury is a mark of sin. Splendour is the mark of the deities. Men have acts for their characteristics.

Ether (or space) has sound for its characteristic. Wind has touch for its characteristic. The characteristic of luminous bodies is colour, and water has taste for its characteristic.

Earth, which holds all entities, has smell for its characteristic. Speech has words for its characteristic, refined into vowels and consonants.

Mind has thought for its characteristic. Thought has again, been said to be the characteristic of the understanding. The thing thought of by the mind are determined with accuracy by the understanding.

There is no doubt in this, viz., that the understanding, by perseverance, perceives all things. The characteristic of mind is meditation. The characteristic of the good man is that he does not allow his acts to be noticed.

Devotion has acts for its characteristic. Knowledge is the characteristic of renunciation. Therefore, kecping knowledge before his view, the man of understanding should practise renunciation.

The man who follows renunciation and who is endued with knowledge, who is above all pairs of opposites, as also darkness, death, and decrepitude, attains to the highest goal.

I have thus described to you duly what the characteristics are of duty. I shall, after this tell you of the comprehension of qualities.

Smell, which belongs to earth, is seized by the nose. The wind, which dwells in the nose is likewise appointed as an agent) in the perception of smell.

Taste is the essence of water. That is perceived by the tongue. Soma, who lives in the tongue, is appointed likewise in the perception of taste.

The quality of a lighted body is colour. That is apprehended by the eye. Aditya who always lives in the eye has been appointed in the perception of colour.

Touch always belongs to the wind (as its quality). That is perceived by the skin. The wind that always lives in the skin has been appointed in apprehending touch.

The quality of a ether is sound. That is seized by the car. All the quarters, which live in the ear, have been appointed in apprehending sound.

The quality of the mind is thought. That is seized by the understanding. The upholder of consciousness, living in the heart, has been appointed in apprehending the mind.

The understanding is appended in the form of determination or certitude, and principle of Greatness in the form of knowledge. The unperceived (Nature) has been, it is evident, appointed for the seizure of all things after certitude. There is no doubt in this.

The Kshetrajna which is eternal and is shorn of qualities about its essence, is incapable of being seized by symbols. Hence, the characteristic of the Kshetrajna, which is without symbols, is purely knowledge.

The unmanifest lives in the symbol called. Kshetra, and is that in which the qualities are produced and absorbed. I always see, know, and hear it (though) it is hidden.

Purusha knows it; therefore is he called Kshetrajna. The Kshetrajna perceives also the action of the qualities and absence of their actions.

The qualities, which are created repeatedly, do not know themselves, being unintelligent, as entities to be created and gifted with a beginning, middle, and end.

No one else, but the Kshetrajna, comes by that which is the highest and great and which is above the qualities and those entities which are born of the qualities.

Hence, who understands duties, renouncing qualities and the understanding, and having his destroyed, and transcending the qualities, enters the Kshetrajna.

One who is free from all pairs of opposites, who never bends his head to any one, who is divested of Svaha, who is immovable, and hom ess, is the Kshetrajna. He is the Supreme Lord. one sons