Vishnu -
The Lord and Protector of the Manifest Universe

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I am Vishnu, Lord of the Manifest Universe
I am its protector and its source of wisdom, the force which binds it together
My dress is golden, and my weapons also are of gold
I protect my creations against the forces of destruction and desolation
Who kill with great ease, resting in graveyards and laughing maniacally

From me radiate golden beams of consciousness, which penetrate through all life
Thus are all beings unified in me, as the origin of their thoughts of self
I stand upon a lotus, arms upraised and from me come
The millions of planets which fill empty space
I rest upon the lotus, for all manifestations return to me
Not by the dark path of ugliness and death
But by increase in light until they merge into the sun

All form comes from me, and through me, for I am its substance
The length of my body is the length of space
The surface of my skin is the form of the material universe
The essence of my body is the akasa
The underlying space which permeates all things
As a balloon is filled with air, as a veil with wind
So am I filled with the substance of Truth

Look for me in all form
As the essence from which it was born
To a child, I am the mother
To a tree, I am the seed
To a river, the ocean
To the wind, the sky
I am unmanifest in form, yet there do I reside
As I dream, a million universes are created
As I awaken, all men rise towards truth

Look always to the invisible, the mysterious, the intangible, the subtle
That which is beyond the range of the senses
Most perceive nothing but grains of sand
And miss the gigantic and infinite ocean
When they stand on the shore

Look always beyond, and never be satisfied with the limited
It is false, a dream, a shadow of a shadow of a veil
Remove the veil of sensible reality, and beneath it
Lies the blazing light which is my home
Kaivalya, whose light is a blinding beacon
For the soul to transcend, as it awakens gloriously
To the infinite freedom of its true home.

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