The sages gathered around King Parikṣit, their minds filled with curiosity and doubt. They asked, “We wish to understand this, for we have great uncertainty: why is it that those who worship two lords of opposing natures attain opposite results?” In response, the wise Śuka began to explain. He said, “Śiva, always united with his divine power, is threefold in nature. He is enveloped by the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas. Thus, I am threefold. From him arise various transformations, sixteen in number, and, assuming the forms of all manifestations, he attains the state of all.” Śuka continued, “Hari, however, is directly beyond the guṇas. He is the Supreme Person, transcendent to nature, the witness and overseer of all. By worshipping him, one becomes free from the guṇas.” He then recalled a time after the cessation of the aśvamedha sacrifices, when King Yudhiṣṭhira, Parikṣit’s grandfather, having heard of the Lord’s dharmas, asked Acyuta (Krishna) about this very matter. The Blessed Lord, pleased with his attentive service, spoke to him for the highest good of all people—he who had descended in the Yadu line. Krishna 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 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 saṃsāra.” Krishna continued, “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 and reckless, seeking further boons and disregarding me.” Śuka then clarified, “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.” He recounted an ancient tale: Once, after granting a boon to Vṛkāsura, the Lord of the Mountain (Śiva) fell into distress. There was an asura named Vṛka, son of Śakuni. On his path, he encountered Nārada, and, being of evil mind, asked him which of the three gods was quick to be pleased. Nārada advised him, “Approach Girisha (Śiva), 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 then they fell into great distress.” Thus instructed, Vṛka hurried to Śiva, offering his own flesh as oblation into the mouth of Hara, who is like fire. On the seventh day, failing to obtain the presence of the god and out of 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), restrained him, preventing him from touching the ground, and restored his form, now more splendid. Śiva said, “Enough, Angala! Choose a boon from me as you desire; I will grant it to you. I am pleased even by water offered by those who surrender, but you have tormented yourself excessively and in vain.” The sinful Vṛka 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 Śambhu’s head, but Śiva, fearful of his own act, withdrew. Pursued by Vṛka, trembling with fear, Śiva fled, running to the ends of heaven and earth, to the boundaries of the quarters and even into the waters. The lords of the gods, not knowing any remedy, sat in silence. Then Śiva went to Vaikuntha, the radiant realm beyond darkness, where Narayana himself abides—the supreme goal of renunciants and 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 was gone, 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. Instantly, his head split and he fell, struck down like a felled ox. Cries of “Victory!”, “Homage!”, and “Well done!” arose in the heavens. Showers of flowers were released as the wicked Vṛkāsura was slain; the gods, sages, ancestors, and gandharvas rejoiced, and Śiva was freed from distress. The Supreme Person addressed the liberated Lord of the Mountain: “O great god, O divine one, this wicked one has been destroyed by his own evil. O Lord, who among the great beings, having committed sin, can survive? What to say, O Lord of the Universe, if one offends the Teacher of the World?” Whoever recounts or hears this deliverance of the Lord of the Mountain, by the direct Supreme Self, Hari, whose power is unfathomable, is freed from the cycles of birth and death, as are their enemies. Later, Śuka told Parikṣit, “On the bank of the Sarasvatī, O King, the sages were performing a sacrifice. Among them arose a debate: ‘Of the three Lords, who is the greatest?