With deep reverence, the worshipper begins the sacred rite, attuning himself to the five faces of Shiva. He contemplates each face in turn, reciting the mantras: “Om ham, to Sadyojata and Vamadeva, svaha. Om ham, to Vamadeva and Aghora, svaha. Om ham, to Aghora and Tatpurusha, svaha. Om ham, to Tatpurusha and Ishana, svaha.” In this way, he meditates sequentially, moving from Agni to Vayu, and completing the cycle with Nirrti and Shiva. Having thus invoked and united the faces, he pours ghee with the ladle, chanting: “Om ham, to Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha, and Ishana, svaha.” This act establishes the presence and forms of all the faces within the chosen one. Next, he worships Agni together with Ishana, offering three oblations accompanied by the astra mantra. With focused mind, he proclaims, “You are Shiva, the fire, the consumer of offerings.” Establishing the fire within his own heart, he offers the full ancestral oblation, using the root mantra that concludes with ‘vauṣaṭ’, as tradition prescribes. In the lotus of his heart, radiant and complete with all its petals and accompanied by the divine retinue, he invokes and worships as before. Seeking permission, he offers the oblation to Shiva. He then connects the channels of the sacrificial fire and Shiva within himself, performing the homa with the root mantra and its divisions, offering one-tenth portions as required. The offerings are measured with care: one karsha each of ghee, milk, and honey; curds measured with a shell; rice pudding by a prasriti. For all other foods and grains, a handful suffices; roots and fruits are offered in threes, each in their proper measure. Cooked foods are given as half a mouthful; fine substances in five portions; sugarcane by its upper joint; and creepers by two finger-widths. Flowers and leaves are offered as appropriate; kindling sticks by ten finger-widths. Camphor, sandalwood, saffron, musk, and resin are measured like a kalaya pea; guggulu, like a jujube seed; tubers, by one-eighth part. The homa proceeds with the seed syllables of Brahman. The ladle is placed face down in a vessel of ghee. A flower is set at its tip, held first with the left hand, then both hands together in a gesture resembling a conch. The body is half-raised, feet together and upright, the gesture held at the navel, eyes fixed on the ladle’s tip. Withdrawing from all causes, beginning with Brahma, the worshipper leads the essence through the Sushumna, bringing it to the left breast, and attentively places the root of both there. He recites the root mantra softly, ending in ‘vauṣaṭ’, and offers ghee into the fire, measured as a barley grain. After sipping water, he offers sandalwood, betel, and similar substances, honoring the divine glory with devotion and performing the supreme salutation. He worships the fire with the astra mantra ending in ‘phat’, performs the sealing gesture of destruction, and humbly asks forgiveness. With supreme faith, he establishes the radiant enclosing fires within the lotus of his heart, using his breath, heart, and subtle self. Taking the foremost offering, he makes two circles, offering oblations both within and without, in the presence of the fire-pit dedicated to Agni. He then offers to the Rudras with “Om hām, to the Rudras, svāhā”; in the east and south to the Mothers; in the west, to the hosts of Varuṇa. In the north, he offers to the Yakṣas; in the northeast, to the Grahas; in the fire, to the Asuras; and in the southwest, to the Rākṣasas. In the northwest, he offers to the Nāgas; in the center, to the Nakṣatras; and to the Rāśis, with “svāhā.” Offerings are made in the fire to all, and again in the southwest. The inner offering in the west is for the Kṣetrapāla; the outer circle is for Indra, Agni, and Yama. He pays homage to Nairṛta, the lord of waters, Vāyu, the guardian of wealth, Īśāna at the beginning of the east, and Īśāna as Brahman. To Nairṛta and Viṣṇu he offers with “svāhā”; the outer oblation is for crows and others. The mantras for both offerings are dissolved within himself with the gesture of withdrawal. At this point, Īśvara instructs: Bearing the arghya vessel, the worshipper enters the fire-house, well-enclosed, and prepares all ritual implements with divine vision. Facing north, he inspects the fire-pit, sprinkles and strikes it with kuśa grass, performs the prescribed acts with the armor-mantra, and sprinkles again as proper. With a sword, he removes the excavated earth, fills and levels it, sprinkles with the armor, and pounds with the arrow-mantra. He sweeps, smears, and arranges the ritual forms, dons the triple thread, and worships with the armor. He makes three lines of water, one to the east with the mouth below, using kuśa grass and the Śiva-mantra, in the proper or reverse order. With the mantra for making it vajra-like, and with the heart, he lays out the four paths with darbha grass; with the mantra for the thread, he arranges the seat with the heart. With the heart, he invokes Vāgīśvarī, worships the Lord, and places the fire, properly supported, upon a pure vessel. Setting aside the flesh-eating portion and purifying by inspection and other means, he unites the three fires—bodily, lunar, and elemental. With “Om hūm,” he installs the consciousness of fire with its seed syllable. The fire, empowered by the collected mantras, is transformed into nectar by the gesture of the cow. Protected by the weapon-mantra and covered with armor, he circumambulates above the fire-pit to the right, holding the worship-thread. He meditates on the seed of Shiva within the realm of the goddess of speech, visualizing it cast by the god of speech. Seated on the ground with knees bent, he directs it toward the heart, facing inward, and at the navel he gathers the inner seed. With the heart, he gathers, dons the ritual garment, purifies, and sips water. Having worshipped the fire within the womb, he protects it with a missile. Finally, he ties the bracelet of the goddess, born from the womb, on his tender hand, and, for the rite of conception, worships the fire with Sadyojata. Thus, through precise ritual and heartfelt devotion, the worshipper honors the divine, uniting the sacred fires, invoking the deities, and offering all with pure intent to Shiva.