With reverence and awe, the sages offered salutations to the lord of beings, whose strength and power are boundless. They bowed to the sacred Ganga, the stream of water that supports all life and embodies countless virtues. Their prayers extended to Kāma, the deity of desire, and to the supreme self, the source of all consciousness. They honored the one who wields the staff, the embodiment of Time, and the one who holds the noose, symbols of cosmic order and dissolution. In their invocation, they acknowledged all that exists—past, present, and future, whether stationary or moving—and prayed for auspiciousness. They implored the lord to protect them, to grant good fortune, and to shower his grace upon them. They recognized that all things are accomplished by the Lord through the wondrous powers of yoga and illusion. Those engaged in austerity beseeched him, yearning to behold his form as they had before. Salutations were offered to the one ever clad in the directions, adorned with a garland of bells, and to the formless yet beautiful being whose very form is the universe itself. They honored the soul of all living beings, whose body is composed of the three qualities, and praised the divine blue-throated one, whose limbs are smeared with ashes from the pyre. They offered salutations to the lord who dwells in the cremation ground, who assumes the form of spirits, and who is known as 'puruṣa' by the Sāṅkhya philosophers. Among sages, they recognized him as Vasiṣṭha; among gods, as Vāsava; and among all forest creatures, as the lion, the supreme lord. Whatever state exists, or will exist, in any manner—desire, anger, greed, dejection, and intoxication—they saw all these as his manifestations. When the great dissolution arrives, the lord, having become the Self, brings about the end of all things. By that fire, the worlds are enveloped everywhere by flames, consuming all beings, stationary and moving alike. In that moment, they beseeched the lord of the gods to be their protector as they faced destruction. They addressed Maheśvara, the great lord, master of auspicious vision, who manifests in countless forms. Then, the blessed Lord spoke to them, instructing that those who act as he has taught, who are restrained and devoted to meditation, should always speak for the welfare of others and refrain from what is displeasing. He urged them to act in this way for their own good fortune, promising that through him, they would attain perfection. Freed from fear, greed, delusion, and anxiety, the sages bowed together, their heads shining with radiance. With pure scented water, mixed with sacred grass and flowers, they performed their rituals. They sang various secret chants and melodious hums, honoring the one whose body is half female, who initiates the practice of Sāṃkhya and Yoga. They saluted the one clad in a black antelope skin, wearing a serpent as sacred thread, and the one dressed in the skin of the lord of beasts, bearing a broad axe—Śaṅkara himself. The foremost sages devoted themselves to the duties of their castes and disciplines, upholding the sacred order. Pleased by their austerity, the lord addressed them, inviting the vow-holders to choose a boon. Among them were Bhṛgu, Aṅgirā, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, Marīci, Kaśyapa, and Saṃvarta, the great ascetic. The sages requested to know the distinction between what is to be served and what is not to be served. The lord replied, revealing his nature: “I am Agni united with Soma, and Soma is established in Agni.” Thus, the sages received the teaching, their devotion fulfilled, and the divine mystery revealed.