and Matter.  Thou art without beginning, middle, and end.  Neither the gods nor the Rishis know thee.  The gods, the Asuras, the Gandharvas, the Siddhas, the Rishis, and the great Uragas with concentrated souls, always adore thee.  Thou art the great panacea for all sorrow.  Thou art without birth and death.  Thou art Divine.  Thou art self-created.  Thou art eternal.  Thou art invisible and beyond ken.  Thou art called Hari and Narayana, O puissant one.  The Vedas declare thee to be the Creator of the universe and the Lord of everything existing in the universe.  Thou art the Supreme protector of the universe.  Thou knowest no deterioration and thou art that which is called the highest.  Thou art of the complexion of gold.  Thou art the slayer of Asuras.  Though One, Aditi brought thee forth in twelve forms.[143] Salutations to thee that art the soul of the Sun.  Salutations to thee in thy form of Soma that is spoken of as the chief of all the regenerate ones and that gratifies with nectar the gods in the lighted fortnight and the Pitris in the dark fortnight.  Thou art the One Being of transcendent effulgence dwelling on the other side of thick darkness.  Knowing thee one ceases to have any fear of death.  Salutations to thee in that form which is an object of knowledge.[144] In the grand Uktha sacrifice, the Brahmanas adore thee as the great Rich.  In the great fire-sacrifice, they sing thee as the chief Adhyaryu (priest).  Thou art the soul of the Vedas.  Salutations to thee.  The Richs, the Yajus, and the Samans are thy abode.  Thou art the five kinds of sanctified libations (used in sacrifices).  Thou art the seven woofs used in the Vedas.  Salutations to thee in thy form of Sacrifice.[145] Libations are poured on the Homa fire in accompaniment with the seventeen monosyllabic sounds.  Thou art the soul of the Homa.  Salutations to thee!  Thou art that Purusha whom the Vedas sing.  Thy name is Yajus.  The Vedic metres are thy limbs.  The sacrifices laid down in the three Vedas are thy three heads.  The great sacrifice called Rathantara is thy voice expressive of gratification.  Salutation to thee in thy form of sacred hymns!  Thou art the Rishi that hadst appeared in the great sacrifice extending for a thousand years performed by the creators of the universe.  Thou art the great swan with wings of gold.  Salutations to thee in thy form of a swan.[146] Roots with all kinds of affixes and suffixes are thy limbs.  The Sandhis are thy joints.  The consonants and the vowels are thy ornaments.  The Vedas have declared thee to be the divine word.  Salutations to thee in thy form as the word![147] Assuming the form of a boar whose limbs were constituted by sacrifice, thou hadst raised the submerged earth for the benefit of the three worlds.  Salutations to thee in thy form of infinite prowess!  Thou sleepest in Yoga on thy snake-decked sofa constituted by the thousand hoods (of the Naga).  Salutations to thee in thy form of sleep!  Thou buildest the