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to be the original cause (of everything). He is adored by Yogins, by Rishis, by the Gandharvas, and by the Siddhas, with the aid |
of knowledge, (of ascetic) success, and of the rites laid down in the scriptural ordinances.[59] He is adored by both the deities |
and the Asuras with the aid of sacrifices by acts and the affliction of the ritual laid down in the scriptures. The fruits of action |
can never touch him for he transcends them all. Being such, I call him the original cause of everything.[60] He is both gross |
and subtile. He is without compare. He cannot be conceived by the senses. He is endued with attributes and he is divested of |
them. He is the lord of attributes, for they are under his control. Even such is the place that is Maheswara's. He is the cause of |
the maintenance and the creation (of the universe). He is the cause of the universe and the cause also of its destruction. He is |
the Past, the Present, and the Future. He is the parent of all things. Verily, He is the cause of every thing. He is that which is |
mutable, He is the unmanifest, He is Knowledge; He is ignorance; He is every act, He is every omission; He is righteousness; |
and He is unrighteousness. Him, O Sakra, do I call the cause of every thing. Behold, O Indra, in the image of Mahadeva the |
indications of both the sexes. That god of gods, viz., Rudra, that cause of both creation and destruction, displays in his form the |
indications of both the sexes as the one cause of the creation of the universe. My mother formerly told me that he is the cause |
of the universe and the one cause of everything. There is no one that is higher than Isa, O Sakra. If it pleases thee, do thou |
throw thyself on his kindness and protection. Thou hast visible evidence, O chief of the celestials, of the fact that the universe |
has sprung from the union of the sexes (as represented by Mahadeva). The universe, thou knowest, is the sum of what is vested |
with attributes and what else is divested of attributes and has for its immediate cause the seeds of Brahma and others. Brahma |
and Indra and Hutasana and Vishnu and all the other deities, along with the Daityas and the Asuras, crowned with the fruition |
of a thousand desires, always say that there is none that is higher than Mahadeva.[61] Impelled by desire, I solicit, with |
restrained mind, that god known to all the mobile and immobile universe,--him, that is, who has been spoken of as the best and |
highest of all the gods, and who is auspiciousness itself, for obtaining without delay that highest of all acquisitions, viz., |
Emancipation. What necessity is there of other reasons (for establishing) what I believe? The supreme Mahadeva is the cause |
of all causes. We have never heard that the deities have, at any time, adored the sign of any other god than Mahadeva. If |
Maheswara be not accepted, tell me, if thou hast ever heard of it, who else is there whose sign has been worshipped or is being |
worshipped by all the deities? He whose sign is always worshipped by Brahma, by Vishnu, by thee, O Indra, with all the other |
deities, is verily the foremost of all adorable deities. Brahma has for his sign the lotus, Vishnu has for his the discus, Indra has |
for his sign the thunder-bolt. But the creatures of the world do not bear any of the signs that distinguish these deities. On the |
other hand, all creatures bear the signs that mark Mahadeva and his spouse. Hence, all creatures must be regarded as belonging |
to Maheswara. All creatures of the feminine sex, have sprung from Ulna's nature as their cause, and hence it is they bear the |
mark of femininity that distinguishes Uma; while all creatures that are masculine, having sprung from Siva, bear the masculine |
mark that distinguishes Siva. That person who says that there is, in the three worlds with their mobile and immobile creatures, |
any other cause than the Supreme Lord, and that which is not marked with the mark of either Mahadeva or his spouse should |
be regarded as very wretched and should not be counted among the creatures of the universe. Every being with the mark of the |
masculine sex should be known to be of Isana, while every being with the mark of the feminine sex should be known to be of |
Uma. This universe of mobile and immobile creatures is provided by two kinds of forms (viz., male and female). It is from |
Mahadeva that I wish to obtain boons. Failing in this, O Kausika, I would rather prefer dissolution itself. Go or remain, O |
Sakra, as thou, O slayer of Vala, desirest. I wish to have boons or curses from Mahadeva. No other deity shall I ever |
acknowledge, nor would I have from any other deity the fruition of all my wishes.--Having said these words unto the chief of |
the celestials, I became overwhelmed with grief at the thought of Mahadeva not having been gratified with me not withstanding |
my severe austerities. Within the twinkling of an eye, however, I saw the celestial elephant I had beheld before me transformed |
into a bull as white as a swan, or the Jasminum pubescens, or a stalk of the lotus or silver, or the ocean of milk. Of huge body, |
the hair of its tail was black and the hue of its eyes was tawny like that of honey. Its horns were hard as adamant and had the |
colour of gold. With their very sharp ends, whose hue was a mild red, the bull seemed to tear the Earth. The animal was |
adorned all over with ornaments made of the purest gold. Its face and hoofs and nose and ears were exceedingly beautiful and |
its waist too exceedingly well-formed. Its flanks were possessed of great beauty and its neck was very thick. Its whole form |
was exceedingly agreeable and beautiful to look at. Its hump shone with great beauty and seemed to occupy the whole of its |
shoulder-joint. And it looked like the summit of a mountain of snow or like a cliff of white clouds in the sky. Upon the back of |
that animal I beheld seated the illustrious Mahadeva with his spouse Uma. Verily, Mahadeva shone like the lord of stars while |
he is at his full. The fire born of his energy resembled in effulgence the lightening that flashes amid clouds. Verily, it seemed as |
if a thousand suns rose there, filling every side with a dazzling splendour. The energy of the Supreme Lord looked like the |
Samvartaka fire which destroys all creatures at the end of the Yuga. Overspread with that energy, the horizon became such that |
I could see nothing on any side. Filled with anxiety I once more thought what it could mean. That energy, however, did not |
pervade every side for any length of time, for soon, through the illusion of that god of gods, the horizon became clear. I then |
behold the illustrious Sthanu or Maheswara seated on the back of his bull, of blessed and agreeable appearance and looking |
like a smokeless fire. And the great god was accompanied by Parvati of faultless features. Indeed, I beheld the blue-throated |
and high-souled Sthanu, unattached to everything, that receptacle of all kinds of force, endued with eight and ten arms and |
adorned with all kinds of ornaments. Clad in white vestments, he wore white garlands, and had white unguents smeared upon |
his limbs. The colour of his banner, irresistible in the universe, was white. The sacred thread round his person was also white. |
He was surrounded with associates, all possessed with prowess equal to his own, who were singing or dancing or playing on |
diverse kinds of musical instruments. A crescent moon, of pale hue, formed his crown, and placed on his forehead it looked |
like the moon that rises in the autumnal firmament. He seemed to dazzle with splendour, in consequence of his three eyes that |
looked like three suns. The garland of the purest white, that was on his body, shone like a wreath of lotuses, of the purest white, |
adorned with jewels and gems. I also beheld, O Govinda, the weapons in their embodied forms and fraught with every kind of |
energy, that belong to Bhava of immeasurable prowess. The high-souled deity held a bow whose hues resembled those of the |
rainbow. That bow is celebrated under the name of the Pinaka and is in reality a mighty snake. Indeed, that snake of seven |
heads and vast body, of sharp fangs and virulent poison, of large neck and the masculine sex, was twined round with the cord |
that served as its bowstring. And there was a shaft whose splendour looked like that of the sun or of the fire that appears at the |
end of the Yuga. Verily, that shaft was the excellent Pasupata that mighty and terrible weapon, which is without a second, |
indescribable for its power, and capable of striking every creature with fear. Of vast proportions, it seemed to constantly vomit |
sparks of fire. Possessed of one foot, of large teeth, and a thousand heads and thousand Stomachs, it has a thousand arms, a |
thousand tongues, and a thousand eyes. Indeed, it seemed to continually vomit fire. O thou of mighty arms, that weapon is |
superior to the Brahma, the Narayana, the Aindra, the Agneya, and the Varuna weapons. Verily, it is capable of neutralising |
every other weapon in the universe. It was with that weapon that the illustrious Mahadeva had in days of yore, burnt and |
consumed in a moment the triple city of the Asuras. With the greatest ease, O Govinda, Mahadeva, using that single arrow, |
achieved that feat. That weapon, shot by Mahadeva's arms, can, without doubt consume in half the time taken up by a |
twinkling of the eyes the entire universe with all its mobile and immobile creatures. In the universe there is no being including |
even Brahma and Vishnu and the deities, that are incapable of being slain by that weapon. O sire, I saw that excellent, |
wonderful and incomparable weapon in the hand of Mahadeva. There is another mysterious and very powerful weapon which |
is equal or perhaps, superior to the Pasupata weapon. I beheld that also. It is celebrated in all the worlds as the Sum of the Sula- |
armed Mahadeva. Hurled by the illustrious deity, that weapon is competent to rive the entire Earth or dry up the waters of the |
ocean or annihilate the entire universe. In days of yore, Yuvanaswa's son, king Mandhatri, that conqueror of the three worlds, |
possessed of imperial sway and endued with abundant energy, was, with all his troops, destroyed by means of that weapon. |
Endued with great might and great energy and resembling Sakra himself in prowess, the king, O Govinda, was slain by the |
Rakshasa Lavana with the aid of this Sula which he had got from Siva. The Sula has a very keen point. Exceedingly terrible, it |
is capable of causing everybody's hair stand on its end. I saw it in the hand of Mahadeva, as if roaring with rage, having |
contracted its forehead into three wrinkles. It resembled, O Krishna, a smokeless fire or the sun that rises at the end of the |
Yuga. The handle of that Sula, was made of a mighty snake. It is really indescribable. It looked like the universal Destroyer |
himself armed with his noose. I saw this weapon, O Govinda, in the hand of Mahadeva. I beheld also another weapon, viz., that |
sharp-edged battle-axe which, in days of yore, was given unto Rama by the gratified Mahadeva for enabling him to exterminate |
the Kshatriyas. It was with this weapon that Rama (of Bhrigu's race) slew in dreadful battle the great Karttaviryya who was the |
ruler of all the world. It was with that weapon that Jamadagni's son, O Govinda, was able to exterminate the Kshatriyas for one |
and twenty times. Of blazing edge and exceedingly terrible, that axe was hanging on the shoulder, adorned with a snake, of |
Mahadeva. Indeed, it shone on Mahadeva's person like the flame of a blazing fire. I beheld innumerable other celestial weapons |
with Mahadeva of great intelligence. I have, however named only a few, O sinless one, in consequence of their principal |
character. On the left side of the great god stood the Grandsire Brahma seated on an excellent car unto which were attached |
swans endued with the speed of the mind. On the same side could be seen Narayana also, seated on the son of Vinata, and |
bearing the conch, the discus, and the mace. Close to the goddess Uma was Skanda seated on his peacock, bearing his fatal dart |
and bells, and looking like another Agni. In the front of Mahadeva I beheld Nandi standing armed with his Sula and looking |
like a second Sankara (for prowess and energy). The Munis headed by the Self-born Manu and Rishis having Bhrigu for their |
first, and the deities with Sakra at their head, all came there. All the tribes of spirits and ghosts, and the celestial Mothers, stood |
surrounding Mahadeva and saluting him with reverence. The deities were engaged in singing the praises of Mahadeva by |
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