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name after thee. The illustrious Vikarna also, O slayer of Madhu, full of devotion to Mahadeva, gratified him with severe |
penances and obtained high and happy success. Sakalya, too, of restrained soul, adored Bhava in a mental sacrifice that he |
performed for nine hundred years, O Kesava. Gratified with him the illustrious deity said unto him,--Thou shalt become a great |
author. O son, inexhaustible shall thy fame be in the three worlds. Thy race also shall never come to an end and shall be |
adorned by many great Rishis that shall take birth in it. Thy son will become the foremost of Brahmanas and will make the |
Sutras of thy work. There was a celebrated Rishi of the name of Savarni in the Krita age. Here, in this asylum, he underwent |
severe penances for six thousand years. The illustrious Rudra said,--I am gratified with thee, O sinless one! Without being |
subject to decrepitude or death, thou shalt become an author celebrated through all the worlds!--In days of yore, Sakra, also, in |
Baranasi, filled with devotion, O Janarddana, adored Mahadeva who has empty space alone for his garments and who is |
smeared with ashes as an agreeable unguent. Having adored Mahadeva thus, he obtained the sovereignty of the celestials. |
Narada also, in days of yore, adored the great Bhava with devotion of heart. Gratified with him, Mahadeva, that preceptor of |
the celestial preceptor, said these words.--No one shall be thy equal in energy and penances. Thou shalt always attend upon me |
with thy songs and instrumental music. Hear also, O Madhava, how in former times I succeeded in obtaining a sight of that god |
of gods, that Master of all creatures, O Lord. Hear also in detail for what object, O thou of great puissance. I invoked with |
restrained senses and mind that illustrious deity endued with supreme energy. I shall, O sinless one, tell thee with full details all |
that I succeeded in obtaining from that god of gods, viz., Maheswara. In ancient times, viz., Krita age, O son, there was a Rishi |
of great fame, named Vyaghrapada. He was celebrated for his knowledge and mastery over the Vedas and their branches. I was |
born as the son of that Rishi and Dhaumya took birth as my younger brother. On a certain occasion, Madhava, accompanied by |
Dhaumya, I came upon the asylum of certain Rishis of cleansed souls. There I beheld a cow that was being milked. I saw the |
milk and it appeared to me to resemble Amrita itself in taste. I then came home, and impelled by childishness, I addressed my |
mother and said,--Give me some food prepared with milk.--There was no milk in the house, and accordingly my mother was |
much grieved at my asking for it. My mother took a piece of (rice) cake and boiled it in water, Madhava. The water became |
whitened and my mother placed it before us saying that it was milk and bade us drink it. I had before that drunk milk on one |
occasion, for my father had, at the time of a sacrifice, taken me to the residence of some of our great kinsmen. A celestial cow, |
who delights the deities, was being milked on that occasion. Drinking her milk that resembled Amrita in taste, I knew what the |
virtues are of milk. I therefore, at once understood the origin of the substance that my mother offered me, telling me that it was |
milk. Verily, the taste of that cake, O son, did not afford me any pleasure whatever. Impelled by childishness I then addressed |
mother, saying,--This O mother, that thou hast given me is not any preparation of milk.--Filled with grief and sorrow at this, |
and embracing me from parental affection and smelling my head, O Madhava, she said unto me,--Whence, O child, can |
ascetics of cleansed souls obtain food prepared with milk? Such men always reside in the forest and subsist upon bulbs and |
roots and fruits. Whence shall we who live by the banks of rivers that are the resort of the Valikhilyas, we who have mountains |
and forest, for our home,--whence, indeed, O child, shall we obtain milk? We, dear child, live (sometimes) on air and |
sometimes on water. We dwell in asylums in the midst of forests and woods. We habitually abstain from all kinds of food that |
are taken by persons living in villages and towns. We are accustomed to only such food as is supplied by the produce of the |
wilderness. There cannot be any milk, O child, in the wilderness where there are no offspring of Surabhi.[42] Dwelling on the |
banks of rivers or in caves or on mountain-breasts, or in tirthas and other places of the kind, we pass our time in the practice of |
penances and the recitation of sacred Mantras, Siva being our highest refuge. Without gratifying the boon-giving Sthanu of |
unfading glory,--him, that is, who has three eyes,--whence, O child, can one obtain food prepared with milk and good robes |
and other objects of enjoyment in the world? Do thou devote thyself, O dear son, to Sankara with thy whole soul. Through his |
grace, O child, thou art sure to obtain all such objects as administer to the indulgence of all thy wishes,--Hearing these words of |
my mother, O slayer of foes, that day, I joined my hands in reverence and bowing unto her, said,--O mother, who this |
Mahadeva? In what manner can one gratify him? Where does that god reside? How may he be seen? With what does he |
become pleased? What also is the form of Sarva? How may one succeed in obtaining a knowledge of him? If gratified, will he, |
O mother, show himself unto me?--After I had said these words, O Krishna, to my mother, she, filled with parental affection, |
smelt my head, O Govinda, her eyes covered with tears the while. Gently patting my body, O slayer of Madhu, my mother, |
adopting a tone of great humility, addressed me in the following words, O best of the deities.' |
"My mother said, 'Mahadeva is exceedingly difficult to be known by persons of uncleansed souls. These men are incapable of |
bearing him in their hearts of comprehending him at all. They can retain him in their minds. They cannot seize him, nor can |
they obtain a sight of him. Men of wisdom aver that his forms are many. Many, again, are the places in which he resides. Many |
are the forms of his Grace. Who is there that can understand in their details the acts, which are all excellent, of Isa, or of all the |
forms that he has assumed in days of yore? Who can relate how Sarva sports and how he becomes gratified? Maheswara of |
universal form resides in the hearts of all creatures. While Munis discoursed on the auspicious and excellent acts of Isana, I |
have heard from them how, impelled by compassion towards his worshippers, he grants them a sight of his person. For the |
purpose of showing a favour unto the Brahmanas, the denizens of heaven have recited for their information the diverse forms |
that were assumed by Mahadeva in days of yore. Thou hast asked me about these. I shall recite them to thee, O son.' |
"My mother continued, 'Bhava assumes the forms of Brahma and Vishnu and the chief of the celestials of the Rudras, the |
Adityas, and the Aswins; and of those deities that are called Viswadevas. He assumes the forms also of men and women, of |
Pretas and Pisachas, of Kiratas and Savaras, and of all aquatic animals. That illustrious deity assumes the forms of also those |
Savaras that dwell in the woods and forests. He assumes the forms of tortoises and fishes and conches. He it is that assumes the |
forms of those coral sprouts that are used as ornaments by men. He assumes also the forms of Yakshas, Rakshasas and Snakes, |
of Daityas and Danavas. Indeed, the illustrious god assumes the forms of all creatures too that live in holes. He assumes the |
forms of tigers and lions and deer, of wolves and bears and birds, of owls and of jackals as well. He it is that assumes the forms |
of swans and crows and peacocks, of chameleons and lizards and storks. He it is that assumes the forms of cranes and vultures |
and Chakravakas. Verily, he it is that assumes the forms of Chasas and of mountains also. O son, it is Mahadeva that assumes |
the forms of kine and elephants and horses and camels and asses. He assumes also the forms of goats and leopards and diverse |
other varieties of animals. It is Bhava who assumes the forms of diverse kinds of birds of beautiful plumage. It is Mahadeva |
who bears the forms of persons with sticks and those with umbrellas and those with calabashes among Brahmanas.[43] He |
sometimes becomes six-faced and sometimes becomes multifaced. He sometimes assumes forms having three eyes and forms |
having many heads. And he sometimes assumes forms having many millions of legs and forms having innumerable stomachs |
and faces and forms endued with innumerable arms and innumerable sides. He sometimes appears surrounded by innumerable |
spirits and ghosts. He it is that assumes the forms of Rishis and Gandharvas, and of Siddhas and Charanas. He sometimes |
assumes a form that is rendered white with the ashes he smears on it and is adorned with a half-moon on the forehead. Adored |
with diverse hymns uttered with diverse kinds of voice and worshipped with diverse Mantras fraught with encomiums, he, that |
is sometimes called Sarva, is the Destroyer of all creatures in the universe, and it is upon him, again, that all creatures rest as on |
their common foundation. Mahadeva is the soul of all creatures. He pervades all things. He is the speaker of all discourses (on |
duties and rituals). He resides everywhere and should be known as dwelling in the hearts of all creatures in the universe. He |
knows the desire cherished by every one of his worshippers. He becomes acquainted with the object in which one pays him |
adorations. Do thou then, if it pleases thee, seek the protection of the chief of the deities. He sometimes rejoices, and |
sometimes yields to wrath, and sometimes utters the syllable Hum with a very loud noise. He sometimes arms himself with the |
discus, sometimes with the trident, sometimes with the mace, sometimes with the heavy mullets, sometimes with the scimitar, |
and sometimes with the battle axe. He it is that assumes the form of Sesha who sustains the world on his head. He has snakes |
for his belt, and his ears are adorned with ear-rings made of snakes. Snakes form also the sacred thread he wears. An elephant |
skin forms his upper garment.[44] He sometimes laughs and sometimes sings and sometimes dances most beautifully. |
Surrounded by innumerable spirits and ghosts, he sometimes plays on musical instruments. Diverse, again are the instruments |
upon which he plays, and sweet the sounds they yield. He sometimes wanders (over crematoria), sometimes yawns, sometimes |
cries, and sometimes causes others to cry. He sometimes assumes the guise of one that is mad, and sometimes of one that is |
intoxicated, and he sometimes utters words that are exceedingly sweet. Endued with appalling fierceness, he sometimes laughs |
loudly, frightening all creatures with his eyes. He sometimes sleeps and sometimes remains awake and sometimes yawns as he |
pleases. He sometimes recites sacred Mantras and sometimes becomes the deity of those Mantras which are recited. He |
sometimes performs penances and sometimes becomes the deity for whose adoration those penances are undergone. He |
sometimes makes gifts and sometimes receives those gifts; sometimes disposes himself in Yoga and sometimes becomes the |
object of the Yoga contemplation of others. He may be seen on the sacrificial platform or in the sacrificial stake; in the midst of |
the cow-pen or in the fire. He may not again be seen there. He may be seen as a boy or as an old man. He sports with the |
daughters and the spouses of the Rishis. His hair is long and stands erect. He is perfectly naked, for he has the horizon for his |
garments. He is endued with terrible eyes. He is fair, he is darkish, he is dark, he is pale, he is of the colour of smoke, and he is |
red. He is possessed of eyes that are large and terrible. He has empty space for his covering and he it is that covers all things. |
Who is there that can truly understand the limits of Mahadeva who is formless, who is one and indivisible, who conjures of |
illusions, who is of the cause of all actions and destructive operations in the universe, who assumes the form of Hiranyagarbha, |
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