Those who do not know You, O Lord—the source of all that is auspicious and inauspicious—cannot truly perceive the qualities and faults that arise from You, nor can they rightly understand the words of embodied beings. Still, in every age, O Lord adorned with divine qualities, You are glorified in an unbroken line of praise. Through the words of human beings, those who hear of You are gently led toward liberation. Even the rulers of heaven, O Infinite One, cannot reach Your limits, nor can the countless cosmic eggs—the Sāvarṇas—that exist between You. Just as dust motes drift in the sky, carried by the wind, so too do the Vedas and even time itself pass away. Yet in You alone do they find their true fruit. By rejecting the unreal, all things ultimately dissolve into You. When the sons of Brahmā, the Siddhas, heard these profound teachings, they honored Sanandana, who knows the path of the Self. The Blessed Lord spoke: “Thus, having heard this instruction from Brahmā, his sons honored Sanandana, who knows the way to the Self.” The very essence of all the Vedas, the Purāṇas, and the Upaniṣads has thus been drawn out by the great souls of old, who journeyed through the skies. And you, O heir of Brahmā, bearing this teaching of the Self with faith, live upon this earth as you wish, burning away the desires of men. Śrī Śuka continued: Thus, having received this instruction from the sage with faith and self-control, the sage Vīravrata, full of knowledge, spoke. Śrī Nārada then offered his salutations: “Homage to that Blessed Lord, Kṛṣṇa of spotless fame, who holds in Himself the powers of creation and destruction of all beings.” Having bowed to the ancient sage and his noble disciples, I, Nārada, went to the ashram of my father, Dvaipāyana. There, honored by the Blessed Lord and having accepted a seat, he recounted to him all that he had heard from the mouth of Nārāyaṇa. Thus, O King, I have described what you asked: how the mind may dwell upon Brahman, who is beyond all definition and without qualities. One should meditate constantly upon Hari—He who witnesses the beginning, middle, and end of the universe; who is Lord of the unmanifest, of living beings, and of the rulers; who, having created the world, enters into it and, through the seers, governs it. Upon attaining Him, the embodied soul casts off all else, just as a sleeping bird leaves its nest. Hari’s unique existence is untouched by origin, and He is utterly fearless—upon Him should one meditate without ceasing. Thus concludes the eighty-seventh chapter, entitled “The Prayers of the Vedas,” in the second half of the Tenth Book of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, the scripture for the paramahaṁsas. At this point, the king inquired: “Among gods, demons, and humans, it is mostly the wealthy rulers who worship the inauspicious as if it were auspicious—but not the devotees of Hari, the Lord of Lakṣmī. We wish to understand this, for we have great doubt: why do those who worship two lords of opposing natures attain opposite results?” Śuka replied: “Śiva, always united with his power, is threefold, enveloped by the guṇas—he is of the nature of sattva, rajas, and tamas; thus, I am also threefold. From him arose various transformations, sixteen in number, and, assuming the forms of all manifestations, he attains the state of all. Hari, however, is directly beyond the guṇas, the Supreme Person, transcendent to nature; he is the witness of all, the overseer. By worshipping him, one becomes free from the guṇas.” Śuka continued: “When the aśvamedha sacrifices had ceased, your grandfather the king, having heard of the Lord’s dharmas, inquired about this from Acyuta. The Blessed Lord, pleased by his attentive service, spoke to him for the highest good of all—he who had descended in the Yadu line.” The Lord said: “When I bestow special favor upon someone, I gradually take away his wealth. Then his relatives abandon him, and he, afflicted by suffering, suffers still more. When, frustrated in his efforts and disillusioned with the pursuit of wealth, he befriends my devotees, I bestow my grace upon him. That supreme, subtle Brahman, consisting only of consciousness, eternal and infinite—knowing it as the Self, the wise one is freed from saṁsāra. Therefore, people, finding Me very difficult to worship, turn to others. Intoxicated and arrogant from the quick boons they receive—kingdoms and prosperity—they become proud, reckless, and, seeking further boons, disregard Me.” Śuka explained further: “The lords of blessing and curse—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and others—of these, Śiva quickly grants boons or curses, Brahmā does not, and Acyuta never does so immediately. There is an ancient tale about this: Once, having granted a boon to Vṛkāsura, the Lord of the Mountain, Śiva, fell into distress.” He continued: “There was an asura named Vṛka, son of Śakuni, who encountered Nārada on his path. Being of evil mind, he asked Nārada which of the three gods is quickest to be pleased. Nārada replied that he should approach Girīśa (Śiva), for he is easily pleased or angered by even the smallest virtue or fault. Just as he was pleased by the praises of Rāvaṇa and Bāṇa, granting them incomparable power, but they later fell into great distress.” Thus instructed, the demon hurried to Śiva. He offered his own flesh as oblation into the mouth of Hara, who is fire. For seven days, he continued his terrible austerity, but when he could not obtain the presence of the god and was overcome by despair, he cut off his own head with a sharp blade, his hair soaked at that holy place. Then, the great compassionate one, Dhurjati (Śiva), just as we might, like fire springing from a flame, restrained him with his arms, preventing further harm, and restored his form, now even more splendid. He said to the demon: “Enough, Angala! Choose a boon from me as you desire; I will grant it. I am pleased even by water offered by those who surrender, but you have tormented yourself excessively and in vain.” That sinful one then asked for a boon that would bring terror to beings: “Whosoever’s head I touch with my hand, let him die.” Hearing this, Lord Rudra, though displeased, laughed and granted the boon, saying “Om”—just as nectar is given to a serpent. Immediately, to test the boon, the demon tried to place his own hand on Śiva’s head. But Śiva, fearful of his own act, quickly withdrew and fled. Pursued by the demon, trembling with fear, Śiva ran as far as the ends of heaven and earth, to the boundaries of the quarters and even into the waters. The gods, seeing this, did not know what to do and sat in silence. Then Śiva went to Vaikuṇṭha, the radiant realm beyond darkness, where Nārāyaṇa himself abides—the supreme goal of renunciants, of the peaceful who have laid down their staff, a place from which none who have gone return. Seeing Śiva so afflicted, the Lord, destroyer of evil, approached from afar, having assumed the form of a young brahmacārī by his yogic power. Wearing a belt, deerskin, and staff, blazing with radiant splendor and holding kuśa grass in his hand, he respectfully greeted the demon with humility.