Vishnupurana 1.22.p7

1.22.p7

Parāçara said:—Having bowed down unto the mighty and indescribable Vishnu I shall relate to you what was formerly described by Vasishtha, The Great Hari holds the pure soul of the world uncontaminated and divested of qualities like the Kaustava gem. The undecaying holds Pakriti as Srivatsa mark and intellect exists in Mādhava in the shape of his mace. The lord holds the two-folded divisions of egotism namely into elements and organs of sense in the shape of his conch-shell and bow. He holds in his hand, in the shape of discus, mind which is the strength of all and excels wind in its flight. The necklace, of the holder of mace, namely Vaijayenti, contains five precious gems (pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond) being the emblems of the five elemental rudiments. Janārddana holds the faculties of action and perception in the shape of numerous shafts. The holy wisdom is the bright sword of Achyuta concealed sometimes in the scabbard of ignorance. In this wise, O Maitreya, Hrishikesha is the refuge of soul, nature, intellect, egotism, the elements, the senses, mind, ignorance and wisdom. And although Hari is without any shape, yet, he, for the behoof of mankind, in his dillusive form, embodies the elements of the world as his weapons and ornaments. Then the lotus-eyed deity, the lord of the universe, holds the nature and the universes. O Maitreya, true wisdom, ignorance, all that is transient, all that is everlasting, exist in the slayer of Madhu, the lord of all creatures. The time with its division of seconds, minutes, days, months, seasons, and years, is but the manifestation of the Great Hari. O Great Muni, the seven worlds, the earth the sky, the heaven, the world of Patriarchs, of sages, of saints, of truth are but diverse manifestations of his. His form is the whole universe; he is first born before all the first-born. He is the refuge of ail being; he is himself self-sustained; his various forms are celestials, men and animals. Therefore he is the supreme lord of all; eternal; he has a visible shape and is without it He is known in the Vedanta as the Rich, Yajush, Sāma and Atharva Vedas, history and sacred science. The Vedas with their manifold divisions, the institutes of Manu and the writings of other law-givers, sacred lores and their translations, poems and all that is said or sung are bodily forms of that Great Vishnu in the shape of sound. All kinds of things with or without form—here or elsewhere are the body of Vishnu. I am Hari; all this is Janārddana, cause and effect proceed from none else but him. He, who is cognizant of these truths, shall never be subject to the afflictions of worldly existence.