Verse 1

¹The Bhagavan, living there with Baladeva, saw the cowherds hard at work getting a sacrifice ready for Indra. ²Though he knew about it, the Bhagavan, the self of all, from whom nothing is hidden, bent down politely and asked the elders, with Nanda at their head: ³Tell me, father, what is this bustle that has come over you? What is the fruit of it, and who is it meant for, and by what means is the sacrifice carried out? ⁴Tell me this, father; I very much want to hear it. Among the good, who hold everything as their own self, what a man does is not a thing to keep hidden. ⁵There is this: for those who look on nothing as their own or another's, who have no enemy and no neutral and no hater — one who stands apart is to be kept off like an enemy, and a well-wisher is spoken of as one's own self.

⁶This world goes about its works both knowing and not knowing. For one who knows, the work comes to its end; for one who does not, it does not. ⁷So then: is this rite of yours one that has been looked into, or is it what people do? I am asking, and I would like it well told.