Sri Rudram and the Purushasuktam are a pair of mellifluous Vedic hymns that can readily waft us to ethereal spiritual heights. Text with word-for-word meaning and brief notes from classic Sanskrit commentaries.
Those who have succeeded in attaching or detaching their minds at will have succeeded in Pratyahara, which means gathering towards, checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thralldom of the senses. When we can do this, we shall really possess character; then alone we shall have taken a long step towards freedom. Before that, we are mere machines.
-Swami Vivekananda