हिन्दी
There is a chest which has the mid-region as its inside and the earth as its bottom. It never decays. The quarters (directions) are its sides and the space its opening above. This chest is the container of treasures, for in it rests the whole universe.
The eastern quarter of the chest is called juhū, the southern quarter is called sahamānā, the western quarter is called rājñī, and the northern quarter is called subhūtā. Vāyu (air) is the son of these quarters. He who knows this, that Vāyu is the child of the quarters, does not have to weep over the loss of his child. ‘I know that Vāyu is the child of the quarters. May I never have to weep over the loss of my child.’
For the sake of my child’s life, I take refuge in that immortal kośa (i.e., the chest, representing the universe). For the sake of my child’s life, I take refuge in prāṇa (the vital breath). For the sake of my child’s life, I take refuge in bhūh (the earth). For the sake of my child’s life, I take refuge in bhuvaḥ (the mid-region). For the sake of my child’s life, I take refuge in svaḥ (space).
When I said, ‘I take refuge in prāṇa,’ I meant that prāṇa is everything visible, whatever there is, and therefore I have taken refuge in everything.
Then, when I said, ‘I take refuge in bhūḥ,’ what I meant was that I take refuge in the earth, I take refuge in the mid-region, and I take refuge in space.
Then, when I said, ‘I take refuge in bhuvaḥ,’ what I meant was that I take refuge in fire, I take refuge in air, and I take refuge in the sun.
Then, when I said, “I take refuge in svaḥ,” what I meant was that I take refuge in the Ṛg Veda, I take refuge in the Yajur Veda, and I take refuge in the Sāma Veda. It is this that I meant.
