Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/83

Rh 'Ye have existed before the creation! Ye beings, ye are displayed in this wondrous universe of five elements! I desire to obtain ye by help of the knowledge derived from hearing and of meditation, for ye are Infinite! Ye are the course itself of Nature and the intelligent Soul that pervades that course! Ye are birds of beauteous feathers perching on the body that is like to a tree! Ye are without the three common attributes of every soul! Ye are incomparable! Ye, through its spirit in every created thing, overspread the universe!

'Ye are golden Eagles! Ye are the essence in which all things disappear! Ye are free from error and know no deterioration! Ye are of beauteous beaks that wound not unjustly and are victorious in every encounter! Ye certainly prevail over Time! Having created the Sun, ye weave the wondrous cloth of the year by means of the white thread of the day and the black thread of the night! And with the cloth so woven ye have established two courses of action appertaining respectively to the Devas and the Pitris. The bird of Life seized by Time which represents the strength of the Infinite soul, ye set free for delivering her unto great happiness! They that are in deep ignorance, as long as they are under the delusion of their senses, suppose ye who are independent of the attributes of matter to be gifted with form! Three hundred and sixty cows represented by three hundred and sixty days produce one calf between them which is the year. That calf is the creator and destroyer of all. Seekers of truth following different routes, draw the milk of true knowledge with its help. Ye Aswinas, ye are the creators of that calf!

'The year is but the nave of a wheel to which is attached seven hundred and twenty spokes representing as many days and nights. The circumference of this wheel represented by twelve months is without end. This wheel is full of delusion and knows no deterioration. It affects all creatures whether of this or of the other world. Ye Aswinas, the wheel of time is set in motion by ye!

'The wheel of Time as represented by the year has a nave 7