33. Moreover, they record him in that

33. Moreover, they record him in that.

They (i.e. the Vâgasaneyins) speak of him, viz. Vaisvânara who has heaven for his head, &c.--i.e. the highest Self--as within that, i.e. the body of the devotee, so as to form the abode of the oblation to Prâna; viz. in the text,'Of that Vaisvânara Self the head is Sutegas,' and so on. The context is as follows. The clause 'He who meditates on the Vaisvânara Self as prâdesamâtra,' &c. enjoins meditation on the highest Self having the three worlds for its body, i.e. on Vaisvânara. The following clause 'he eats food in all worlds' teaches that the attaining of Brahman is the reward of such meditation. And then the text proceeds to teach the Agnihotra offered to Prâna, which is something subsidiary to the meditation taught. The text here establishes an identity between the members--fire, sun, &c.--of the Vaisvânara enjoined as object of meditation (which members

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are called Sutegas, Visvarûpa, &c.), and parts--viz. head, eye, breath, trunk, bladder, feet--of the worshipper's body. 'The head is Sutegas'--that means: the head of the devotee is (identical with) heaven, which is the head of the highest Self; and so on up to 'the feet,' i.e. the feet of the devotee are identical with the earth, which constitutes the feet of the highest Self, The devotee having thus reflected on the highest Self, which has the three worlds for its body, as present within his own body, thereupon is told to view his own chest, hair, heart, mind and mouth as identical with the altar, grass and the other things which are required for the Agnihotra; further to identify the oblation to Prâna with the Agnihotra, and by means of this Prâna-agnihotra to win the favour of Vaisvânara, i.e. the highest Self. The final--conclusion then remains that Vaisvânara is none other than the highest Self, the supreme Person.--Here terminates the adhikarana of 'Vaisvânara.'