air! And leaving aside thy upper garment, with
body emaciated and looking like a bundle of veins,
thou hadst lived on the banks of the Saraswati, employed
in thy sacrifice extending for twelve years!
And, O Krishna of mighty energy, in observance of thy
vow thou hadst stood on one leg for the length of
a thousand years of the celestials, on the plains
of Prabhasa which it behoveth the virtuous to visit!
Vyasa hath told me that thou art the cause of the creation
and its course! And, O Kesava, the lord of Kshetra,[17]
thou art the mover of all minds, and the beginning
and end of all things! All asceticism resteth
in thee, and thou too art the embodiment of all sacrifices,
and the eternal one! Slaying the Asura Naraka,
offspring of the Earth-first begotten, thou hadst
obtained his ear-rings, and performed, O Krishna, the
first horse-sacrifice (offering up that Asura as the
sacrificial horse)! And, O bull of all the worlds,
having performed that feat, thou hast become victorious
over all! Thou hadst slain all the Daityas and
Danavas mustered in battle, and giving the lord of
Sachi (Indra) the sovereignty of the universe, thou
hast, O Kesava of mighty arms, taken thy birth among
men! O slayer of all foes, having floated on the
primordial waters, thou subsequently becamest Hari,[18]
and Brahma and Surya and Dharma, and Dhatri and Yama
and Anala and Vasu, and Vaisravana, and Rudra, and
Kala and the firmament the earth, and the ten directions!
Thyself increate, thou art the lord of the mobile
and the immobile universe, the Creator of all, O thou
foremost of all existences! And, O slayer of Madhu,
O thou of abundant energy, in the forest of Chitraratha
thou didst, O Krishna, gratify with thy sacrifice
the chief of all the gods, the highest of the high!
O Janardana, at each sacrifice thou didst offer, according
to shares, gold by hundreds and thousands. And,
O son of the Yadava race, becoming the son of Aditi,
O exalted one of the supreme attributes, thou hast
been known as the younger brother of Indra! And,
O thou chastiser of foes, even while a child thou
didst, O Krishna, in consequence of thy energy, fill
by three steps only the heaven, the firmament, and
the earth! And, O thou soul of all covering the
heaven and the firmament (while thou wert thus transformed),
thou didst dwell in the body of the sun and afflict
him with thy own splendour! And, O exalted one,
in thy incarnations on those thousand occasions, thou
hadst slain, O Krishna, sinful Asuras by hundreds!
By destroying the Mauravas and the Pashas, and slaying
Nisunda and Naraka. Thou hast again rendered safe
the road to Pragjyotisha! Thou hast slain Ahvriti
at Jaruthi, and Kratha and Sisupala with his adherents,
and Jarasandha and Saivya and Satadhanwan! And
on thy car roaring like unto clouds and effulgent
like the sun, thou didst obtain for thy queen the
daughter of Bhoja, defeating Rukmi in battle!
Thou didst in fury slay Indradyumna and the Yavana
called Kaseruman! And slaying Salwa the lord