31 - Hymn to Shiva 

Sanatkumāra said: 

1. O holy lord, please now recount to us how the dwellers of Dāru forest sought refuge in the lord, thanks to his grace. 

Nandin said: 

2. The self-born deity (Brahmā) spoke thus to the blessed residents of Dāru forest who had the lustre of fire due to their penance. 

Brahma said: 

3. This great lord should be known as Maheśhvara. Greater than him there is no other protection to be sought, 

4-5. He is the lord of Devas, sages and pitrus. During the period of dissolution at the end of a thousand sets of four yugas,215 the lord becomes Kāla and destroys all living beings. He alone creates subjects by his splendour. 

215. The period of dissolution is equal to a kalpa, or a night of Brahma, equal to a period of four hundred thirty-two million years of mortals. 

6. He is the Thunderbolt-armed (Indra) and the discuss. bearing Vişhņu marked by Shrivatsa. He is called Yogin in the Kruta age, Kratu in the Tretā, Kalāgui in the Dvāpara and Dharma setu in the Kali age. These four are the forms of Rudra which the learned men meditate upon. 

8." The linga should be symmetrical within and without; at the place of support of the swollen knob it should be octangular. In other places it should be cylindrical and of attractive appearance One should worship only such fine Linga. 

9. Tamas is the fire god; Rajas is Brahmã and Sattva is Vishnu. Although here is a single deity at the base these are glorified as its forms.216 

216. Cf. Dia Bhaga. 1.8.4; Brahmanda, prakriya. 1.6; Mar. 40.18; SP Väyaviyu 10.27; Linga, 1.1.22. 

10-11. The leading brahmins who have conquered their anger and sense organs, make the Linga endowed with all these Traits. It is there that the Brahman stays along with all his yogic powers. Hence they worship (in the linga) lord Ishäna the lord of the chiefs of Devas, the unchanging deity. 

12-17. The Linga should be cylindrical, splendid, of the size. O thumb, appealing to all and level in the umbilical region. It may have eight or sixteen equal angles. Its zone must be well built, so that it should yield all desires. The supporting altar is twice its size or equal in size, and approved by all. The cow's hole shall have all the characteristics of the altar and shall be a third of its size. O excellent brahmins, the border all round shall be at least one yava in breadth. The Linga shall be made of gold, silver or copper The altar shall extend up to thrice its size all round. It (the altar) shall be circular, triangular, quadiangular or hexagonal in shape. It shall be free from cracks, ard with all characteristics clearly defined. After installing it duly in accordance with the rules governing worship, O brahmins, the Kalasha (water-pot) shall be placed in the middle of the altar. 

18. A pie of gold and cereals217 shall be placed within it. The holy water shall then be inspired with the Mantras of the five auspicious Brahmans218 (Sadyojāta etc). The devotee shall thereafter sprinkle the Linga with the holy water repeating the sacred five mantras. 

217. sabijam --panchākşhara-mantra-sahitam ST, including the five syllabled mantra 'namah Shivaya' 

218. brahmabhih-sadyojādådimantraiḥ-with mantras begining with 'sadyojātāya namah'. 

19. If you worship with such materials as are available you will attain Siddhi. All of you joined by your sons and kinsmen shall worship him with concentration and mental purity. 

20. All of you with your palms joined in reverence shall resort to the trident-bearing lord. You will then sec the lord of Devas who is inaccessible to persons with no self-control. 

21-22. On seeing him your ignorance and sins will perish. 

Thereafter forest-dwellers circumambulated Brahmā of unmeasured prowess and returned to Dāruvana. They propitiated the lord in the manner prescribed by Brahmā. 

23-27. In the different dry tracts of land, or in the caves of the mountains or in the auspicious but isolated banks of the rivers they performed penances. Some stayed in water, looking splendid with moss clinging to them, some were exposed to the rain in the course of penance and some stood on the tips of their toes. Others lived on grains crushed by teeth. Others on grains crushed with pieces of rocks. Some adopted Virāsana postures and others were engaged in the activities of deer. Thus these wise devotees spent time in penance and worship. When a year was completed and Spring arrived, in that Kruta age, the lord wanted to bless them with his grace. With sympathy towards his devotees, the delighted lord came to Dāru forest on the splendid mountain Himālaya.219 

219. See p. 94 note III. 

28-32. The lord had vulgar traits. He was stark nude. He had smeared his limbs with ashes. His hands were engaged in whirling a firebrand. His eyes were red and tawny. Sometimes he laughed biosteriously, sometimes he sang surprisingly. Sometimes he danced amorously and sometimes he cried repeatedly. He roamed round the hermitages and begged for alms. He assumed forms of his choice by his mäyä. When the lord thus came to the forest the sages eulogised him with devotion. By their pleasant countenance and in the company of their wives, sons and attendants, they greeted the lord with waters, garlands of variegated colour, incense and scents. They spoke to the lord thus: 

33-35. “O lord of chief of Devas, please forgive whatever fault has been committed by us mentally, verbally and physically, out of our ignorance. O Rudra, your activities wonderful and incomprehensible are secret and unintelligible even to Brahmā and other Devas. We do not understand either your progress or regress." 

36. O lord of the universe, O supreme lord, you are as you are. Obeisance be to you. The sages of noble soul eulogise you as the lord of Devas, the supreme lord. 

37. Obeisance to Bhava, to the splendid one, to the conceiver of all objects, to the source of their origin, to one of infinite strength and prowess and to the lord of all living beings. 

38. Obeisance to the destroyer, to the tawny-coloured one, to the changing and the unchanging one, to one who bore the flow of the Gangetic waters and to the support of all, Obeisance to one who manifests in all the three Gunas. 

39. Obeisance to the Lord with three eyes, to the holder of the excellent trident, the bestower of pleasure220 to the fire god and the great Ātman. 

220. kandarpāya-kam sukham tena darpayati harşhayati, mohayativå kandarpaḥ tasmai ST. One who delights his devotees by giving them pleasure. 

40. Obeisance to the bull-emblemed Shiva, to the lord of Ganas; to Kāla armed with a staff and a noose in his hands. 

41-42. Obeisance to one who is the chief deity of the Vedic hymns, and who has hundred tongues. O lord, this entire universe is born out of your body whether it be of the past, present or future, whether it be mobile or immobile. O lord, welfare into you. You protect and destroy everything. Hence be pleased with us. 

43. Whatever man does out of ignorance or knowledge is done by the lord221 himself through his yogic Māyā. 

221. bhagavan---It has been defined as of fat Vishnu quoted in ST. 

 44-46. After eulogising the lord with delighted inner soul, the sages endowed with austeritics requested222 him"Let us see you in your real form." Then the delighted lord assumed his real form of three eyes. To see that form the lord granted them divine eyes. Looking at the three-eyed lord of Devas by the vision they had acquired, the dwellers of Daruvana again eulogised the lord. 

222. yāchanta-an archaic form for ayachanta.