Verse 20

²⁰Of fords and streams, the Ganga; of standing waters I am the sea. Of weapons I am the bow; of bowmen, the destroyer of the three cities. ²¹Of the seats of things I am Meru; of hard places, the Himalaya. Of trees, the asvattha; of plants I am barley. ²²Of household priests I am Vasistha; of those deepest in Brahman, Brhaspati. Of all commanders I am Skanda; of those who go first, the revered one, the unborn. ²³Of sacrifices I am the sacrifice of Brahman; of vows, the doing of no harm. I am the self of wind, fire, sun, water and speech; of clean things I am the clean. ²⁴Of the yogas, the shutting in of the self; of those who mean to win, I am counsel. Of skills, the art of inquiry; of those who argue over how a thing appears, the alternative put up against it.

²⁵Of women I am Satarupa, and of men, Manu the self-born. Of sages I am Narayana, and of the chaste, Kumara. ²⁶Of the forms of dharma I am renunciation; of safeties, a mind not turned outward. Of things kept close, kind speech and silence; of couples I am the unborn. ²⁷Of the unblinking I am the year; of seasons, Madhu and Madhava. Of months I am Margasirsa; and of the lunar houses, Abhijit. ²⁸Of the ages I am the Krta; of the steady, Devala and Asita. Of the Vyasas I am Dvaipayana; of poets, Kavya, who has his self in hand.