Verse 1

¹Pariksit said: Brahmin, how do the Vedas, whose working is among the strands, move upon Brahman, which cannot be pointed to, which is beyond the strands, which is directly beyond what is and what is not? ²The lord sent forth for people the understanding, the senses, the mind and the breaths: for the objects of sense, and for coming to be, and for the self, and for its not being made up. ³This is that upanisad of Brahman, held by the forebears of those who came before. Whoever holds it with trust goes to safety, having nothing. ⁴Here I shall set out for you a song that goes with Narayana, and the talk between Narada the sage and Narayana.

⁵Once Narada, who is dear to the Bhagavan, wandering the worlds, went to Narayana's hermitage to see that everlasting sage, ⁶who in this land of Bharata, for the safety and the well-being of men, has stood since the beginning of the age in an austerity joined with dharma, knowledge and calm. ⁷There, where he sat surrounded by sages who live in Kalapagrama, Narada bowed and asked this very thing, upholder of the Kurus. ⁸To him, while the sages listened, the Bhagavan spoke this: the talk of Brahman that the ancients held, those who live in Janaloka.