With hearts full of devotion, the faithful approached the supreme Lord, the spouse of Umā, and worshipped him with dance, recitation of sacred hymns, humble salutations, triumphant cries of victory, and by circumambulating his holy presence. Through such worship of the God of gods, they were freed from all sins, their forms radiant with beauty and youthful pride, adorned in divine ornaments. Their merit uplifted twenty-one generations of their lineage. Blessed with a golden aerial chariot wreathed with tinkling bells, they soared through the heavens, praised by the celestial Gandharvas and adorned by the enchanting Apsaras. Their glory illuminated all directions as they journeyed to the world of Shiva, where they enjoyed a happiness that delighted the heart and mind, O Brahmins. There, in Shiva’s realm, they dwelled joyfully among its inhabitants until the great cosmic dissolution. When the fruits of their merit were spent, they returned to earth. Upon their return, they were born into the houses of yogis, as twice-born knowers of the four Vedas. Through the attainment of Pashupata yoga, they ultimately reached liberation. At auspicious times—when rising from bed, during the sun’s transitions, at the solstices, on the eighth day called Ashoka, and at the festival of purification—those who beheld that supreme God, clad in a hide and riding a chariot shining like the sun, were surely destined for the world of Shiva. Indeed, even those wise ones who glimpsed the Lord at any time, freed from all sin, truly journeyed to Shiva’s world. For two and a half yojanas in every direction—west, east, south, and north—around the Lord, that sacred field bestowed both enjoyment and liberation to those who entered. In that excellent field, those who saw the linga known as Bhaskaresvara, after bathing in the holy pond, beheld the great Lord himself. This Lord of gods, the three-eyed one, had once been worshipped by the sun. Those who saw him, cleansed of all sin, ascended to the supreme chariot, praised by Gandharvas, and entered Shiva’s world, where they remained in joy for a kalpa, O best of Brahmins. After enjoying abundant and delightful pleasures in Shiva’s realm, when their merit was exhausted, they were reborn on earth in noble families. Some were born again in the houses of yogis, as excellent twice-born ones, accomplished in the Vedas and Vedangas, ever devoted to the welfare of all beings. Skilled in the meaning of the scriptures on liberation, equal-minded toward all, having attained the supreme yoga of Shambhu, they finally reached liberation. In that sacred and excellent field, O Brahmins, wherever a linga was seen—whether worshipped or not, in the forest or by the roadside, at a crossroads, in a cremation ground, or wherever it stood—those who beheld the linga without distraction, with faith and full concentration, gained great merit. Bathing it with devotion, offering fragrant substances and delightful flowers, incense, lamps, offerings, salutations, and hymns, with prostrations, dance, song, and all manner of worship, such a person journeyed to the world of Shiva. Even women who worshipped with faith attained the same fruits, without doubt. Who, indeed, could recount all the virtues of that supreme field, O foremost sages, except the gods and Maheshvara himself? Whoever—man or woman—went to that excellent field, with or without faith, during the months beginning with Madhava, on whatever lunar day, and bathed in the waters of the Bindusaras, beholding the god Virupaksha and the goddess Shiva, the granter of boons, attained the world of Shiva. If one beheld Chanda among the hosts, Karttikeya, Ganesha, the bull, the wish-fulfilling tree, and Savitri, he too reached Shiva’s world. Bathing properly at the Kapila ford, the destroyer of sins, one’s wishes were fulfilled and passage to Shiva’s world was assured. Whoever established a pillar there according to proper rites, with controlled senses, uplifted twenty-one generations of his lineage and went to Shiva’s world. Bathing at Ekamra, the auspicious field of Shiva, equal to Varanasi, one surely attained liberation. There, too, was the mother Viraja, established as Brahmani—by seeing her, a mortal purified his lineage up to the seventh generation. Even a single vision of that goddess, worshipped with devotion and bowed to, uplifted one’s lineage and granted entry to my world. Other mothers of the worlds resided there at Viraja—goddesses who removed all sins, granters of boons, and fond of devotion. There flowed the river Vaitarani, the remover of all sins; bathing in her, O best of men, freed one from all impurities. There, the self-born Hari himself abided in the form of a boar; seeing him and bowing with devotion, one attained the supreme Vishnu. At Kapila, Gograha, Soma, the ford called Alabu, Mrityunjaya, Krodhatirtha, Vasuki, and Siddhakeshvara—whoever, self-controlled and resolute, visited these eight fords at Viraja, bathed according to the rite, and bowed to the gods, was freed from all sins, mounted a splendid celestial car, and was honored in my world, praised by Gandharvas. Whoever offered the ancestral cake at Viraja, my field, granted inexhaustible satisfaction to the ancestors, without doubt. O best of sages, those men who, at Viraja, my field, abandoned their bodies, truly attained liberation. Whoever, after bathing in the ocean, saw Kapila and Hari, and beheld the goddess Varahi, attained the abode of the gods. There were also other sacred fords and holy shrines; at that time, O best of sages, those too should be known and revered.