32 - Hymn to Lord Shiva 

The sages said: 

1. Obeisance to the lord who is naked,223 who bears the trident, who dissolves the universe,224 who is handsome,225 who is an axe to the tree of the universe,226 to one with terrifying face.227 

223. digvāshase-aparichinnarūpāya ST.-not conditioned by limit.

224. krutäntāya--pralayakäranāya ST.-the cause of dissolution.

225. Vikațāya-Sundarăva a ST.-of beautiful form,

226. karälāya-kuthärāya ST.-an axe to the world-tree.

 227. karala-vadanāyam of terrible face. 

2. Obeisance to formless one; to one of handome form; to one of the form of the universe. Obeisance to one who em braces the elephantine face of his son Gaņešha;228 obeisance to Rudra; obeisance to one in the form of vajamāna.229 

228. katarkațāya--who one touches lovingly the elephantine face of Ganesha. 

229. svähäkärāya-one who has a form of yajamāna.

3. Obeisance to one bowed by all, obeisance to one who bows to his own Ātman; obeisance to one with blue tuft;230 obeisance to one with poison in his neck. 

230. nila-shikbaņdaya-of dark hair. 

4. Obeisance to one who is blue-necked, to one who applies the ash from the cremation ground all over the body. You are Brahmä among all Devas. You are Nilalohita among all Rudras. 

5-6. You are the soul of all living beings. You are known as Puruşha in the Sãnkhya system. You are Meru among mountains; moon among planets; Vasişhtha among sages; Indra among Devas; Om among Vedas and the excellent Sāman among Sāman verses. 

7. You are lion among beasts; bull among animals and lord of all men. 

8. In whatever form you are, whatever form you may assume, may we be able to see you there in the manner mentioned by Brahmā.231 

231. paśhyamah-tathā kurv iti sheşhaḥ ST. Do so that we may see you. 

9. Lust, anger, covetousness, despondency and arrogance -- We wish to know all these; be pleased, o supreme lord. 

10. When the time of great Dissolution arrived, 0 lord, the hand was rubbed against the forehead and fire was generated by you the self-possessed soul. 

11. Then the whole world was enveloped by that fire. Hence these (lust, anger etc.) are distorted fires equal to the fire of dissolution. 

12-16. Lust, fury, greediness, delusion, arrogance and harass- ment and all living beings mobile and immobile are burned by the fire originating from yon. O lord of Devas, be our protector even as we are being burned, 0 highly blessed one, o supreme lord, for the welfare of the world you sprinkle the living beings. O auspicious observer, o lord, command us: we shall carry out your behest, in thousands and crores of living beings, in hundreds and crores of forms, we are unable to reach the extremities. O lord of Devas, obeisance be to you.