Having offered respectful obeisance to the ancient sage and his esteemed disciples, I then made my way to the ashram of my father, Dvaipāyana. There, honored by the Blessed Lord and having accepted a seat, my father recounted to him all that he had heard directly from the lips of Nārāyaṇa. Thus, O King, I have described to you what you inquired—how the mind may rest upon Brahman, that indefinable, qualityless reality. One should meditate constantly upon Hari, who observes the beginning, middle, and end of the universe; the Lord of the unmanifest, of living beings, and of the gods. Having created the world, He enters it and, through the seers, governs all. When the embodied soul attains Him, it abandons worldly existence, just as a sleeping bird leaves its nest. Hari’s unique existence is untouched by origin and is utterly fearless; upon Him, one should fix the mind. Thus concludes the eighty-seventh chapter, 'The Prayers of the Vedas,' in the second half of the Tenth Book of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, the scripture for the paramahaṃsas. Then, the king spoke: “Among gods, demons, and humans, those who worship the inauspicious as auspicious are mostly wealthy rulers, but not devotees of Hari, the Lord of Lakṣmī. We desire to understand this, for we have great doubt: why do those who worship two lords of opposing natures attain opposite results?” Śuka replied: “Śiva is always united with power and manifests in threefold nature, enveloped by the guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas. Thus, I too am threefold. From him arise various transformations, sixteen in number, and, assuming all forms, he attains the state of all. Hari, however, is directly beyond the guṇas, the Supreme Person, transcendent to nature; He is the witness and overseer of all. By worshipping Him, one becomes free from the guṇas. When the aśvamedha sacrifices had ceased, your grandfather, the king, heard of the Lord’s dharmas and asked Acyuta about this. The Blessed Lord, pleased with his attentive service, spoke for the highest good of men—He who descended in the Yadu line. The Lord said: ‘When I show special favor to someone, I gradually take away his wealth. Then, his relatives abandon him, and he, afflicted by suffering, suffers further. When, frustrated 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 saṃsāra. 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 continued: ‘O dear one, 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. Here they recount an ancient tale: Having granted a boon to Vṛkāsura, the Lord of the Mountain, Śiva, fell into distress. There was an asura named Vṛka, son of Śakuni. On the path, he saw Nārada and, being of evil mind, asked him about which of the three gods is quick to be pleased. Nārada replied: ‘Go quickly to the god Girisha, for you will succeed; he is easily pleased or angered by even the smallest virtue or fault. Just as he was pleased by the praises of Ravana and Bana, granting them incomparable power, but they later fell into great distress.’ Thus instructed, the demon hurried to Śiva, offering his own flesh from his body as oblation into the mouth of Hara, who is fire. On the seventh day, failing to obtain the god’s presence and despairing, he cut off his own head with a sharp blade, his hair soaked at that holy place. Then, the great compassionate one, Dhurjati, just as we would, like fire springing from a flame, restrained him with his arms, preventing him from touching, and restored his form, now more splendid. Śiva said to him: ‘Enough, Angala! Choose a boon from me as you desire; 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 him the boon, saying ‘Om’, just as nectar is given to a serpent. Then, to test the boon, the demon tried to place his own hand on Śambhu’s head, but Śiva, fearful of his own act, withdrew. Pursued by him, trembling with fear, Śiva fled, running as far as the ends of heaven and earth, to the boundaries of the quarters and into the waters. The lords of the gods, not knowing any remedy, sat in silence. Then, Vṛka went to Vaikuntha, the radiant realm beyond darkness, where Nārāyaṇa himself abides, the supreme goal of renunciants, of the peaceful who have laid down their staff, from which none who have gone return. Seeing Śiva thus afflicted, the Lord, destroyer of evil, approached from afar, having assumed the form of a young Brahmachari by his yogic power. Wearing a belt, deerskin, and staff, blazing like fire with his radiance, holding kusa grass in hand, he respectfully greeted Vṛka with humility. The Blessed Lord said: ‘O son of Śakuni, you appear exhausted—have you come from afar? Rest for a moment, for this self is the fulfiller of all desires. If your purpose is not too secret for us to hear, O mighty one, please tell it; for generally, men seek to achieve their own aims through others.’ Thus questioned by the Lord, whose words rained nectar, Vṛka’s fatigue vanished, and he told him everything as it had happened. The Blessed Lord said: ‘If this is so, then we will not believe the words of one who, by Daksha’s curse, has attained a demonic state and is lord of ghosts and spirits. If you truly have faith there, O lord of the Dānavas, in the Teacher of the Universe, then, dear one, quickly place your hand on your head and let it be proven. If the words of Śambhu are in any way untrue, O best of Dānavas, then abandon him as a speaker of falsehood, for one who speaks lies should not be followed again.’ Thus, by the Lord’s clever and artful words, Vṛka’s mind was confused; forgetting himself, the foolish one placed his own hand on his head.