Lord Rudra continued, “O Lord, the five gross elements, senses and mind enable the person to see Your manifested form i.e. world which is subject to transformations such as creation, sustenance and annihilation. In other words, through this visible world You, the cause of this creation, are visible.
Only devotees who selflessly perform non-fruitive actions and who dedicatedly, extensively and devotionally worship You through pujas and varied other rituals understand the real purport of the Vedas and Shastras.
O Lord, You are non-dual. You are the cause for everything. You are a form of completeness. In You, the illusory power is latent. Through the medium of this illusory power, You are the cause for the entire creation. This world is absorbed back into You at time of dissolution.
At the beginning of creation, an imbalance occurred in the triguṇās. From this the Mahat tattva (cosmic intelligence), ahamkara (egoism), 5 gross elements of space etc., and this visible world full of Devatas, Maharishis, human beings and all forms of life, emerged.
Using His illusory power, the Lord created four kinds of living beings viz., Jarāyuja (those born from womb such as human beings, lion), anḍāyuja (living entities which hatch from an egg such as birds), swedāyuja (living beings born from sweat such are insects and worms) and udbija (which emerge from trees and plants).
The Lord then entered into these four kinds of living entities He had created. He considered each of them to be an aspect of supreme illumination. In this way, each living entity is a residence for the Lord who dwells in it.
For this reason, eminent scholars address the Lord as Puruśa i.e. one who dwells within a Pura (town). Due to spiritual ignorance, the Lord who has entered this house is now enjoying trivial material luxuries through the medium of the senses just like honeybees enjoy honey collected in the honey comb.
Your illusory power moves at unimaginable speeds. Just as winds of destruction scatter the clouds, You scatter space and other basic elements. Through this You cause destruction of the creation.
The human being is engrossed in various actions and he increases his attachment towards wealth and other worldly comforts. In other words, he demonstrates a very careless attitude in understanding His real form”.
Needless to say, the ignorant human being is very vigilant in matters pertaining to his body and health. Every pain he attends to instantly. However, he is negligent in matters pertaining to the real Self that resides within. His attempts towards understanding his Self are poor. He says, ‘O Paramatma, you take care of the inner dweller. It is not my responsibility. I am busy looking after this body. I need to experience heat-cold and joys-sorrows that come in life. Falling in attachments I need to be re-born as insects and worms. I have to swim in this dirty mire. But all those topics about Self, atma, Paramatma etc. – I have no time to attend to them all. I offer them to you’.
“Just as a hungry snake swallows a rat, You suddenly pounce upon such persons in the form of time and swallow them up. The person who is negligent in his efforts to understand You, has wasted his body. The intelligent person who understands this great truth will never let go of Your lotus feet.
Our father, Lord Brahma ardently worships You before time swallows him up. The 14 Manus also worship Your lotus feet with a selfless attitude.
O Parabrahma, O Paramatma! The world fears Rudra, the embodiment of time, who will destroy it in entirety. Therefore, intelligent persons like us who have sought shelter completely under You are absolutely fearless. We do not fear anything”.
Lord Rudra continued, “My dear princes, with pure mind strictly adhere to Your swadharma. Fix your mind completely upon the Supreme Lord and chant this mantra with dedication. You will be blessed with auspiciousness.
Srihari resides in the cave called the intellect of every living being in the form of the Self. Unfailingly with absolute dedication worship and meditate upon Him. Sing His glories. This stotra will become famous as Yogādeśam. It means ‘the initiation given by Rudra for the purposes of obtaining liberation’. Retain this initiation constantly in your mind. Relentlessly recapitulate this initiation. With absolute concentration of mind, chant this stotram at all times.
Previously Lord Brahma, the leader of all Prajāpatis, decided to begin creation. To ensure that the creation proceeds smoothly, he initiated Brighu and other sons like us into this hymn (stotram). When he ordered us to continue creation, we chanted this stotra and created innumerable types of living beings.
Therefore the person who seeks shelter under Vāsudeva and whose sole aim in life is to obtain Him, should, with absolute concentration of mind chant this stotram. The person who adheres to this will very quickly obtain auspiciousness”.
Haraye namah