Those who had realized the supreme state did not turn their minds toward creation, for their awareness was enveloped by the divine illusion of the Supreme Lord. In His wisdom, the Supreme Lord spoke forth the lotus-born, Brahmā, as His own son, intending both delusion and desire. This lotus-born, whom you, O Śaṅkara, call your son, was declared by the Supreme Lord as His own. Desiring to bring forth beings, Brahmā undertook the most arduous austerities. Yet, after a long time, distress overcame him, and from this distress, anger arose. From the drops of his tears, beings known as pretas came into existence. Consumed by anger, Lord Prajāpati abandoned his life-breaths, and he shone with the brilliance of a thousand suns, resembling the fire at the end of an age. Because of your weeping, O Lord, you became known in the world as Rudra. The Grandfather of the worlds, Brahmā, assigned abodes to these eight forms. Bhīma, Ugra, Mahādeva—these are seven of the names, and Initiated, Brāhmaṇa, Chandra—these are the eight forms. To these eight-bodied gods, Brahmā granted the supreme position. Their wives were Svāhā, the Directions, Dikṣā, and Rohiṇī. Their sons are remembered as Skanda, Sarga, Santāna, and Budha. Having abandoned progeny, duty, and desire, Rudra took refuge in detachment. He drank the imperishable, eternal, supreme nectar called Brahman. By his own mind, Shiva created Rudras resembling himself. These Rudras held tridents, destroyed enemies, were supremely joyful, and three-eyed. The Lord made them free from passion, all-knowing, and numbering in hundreds of millions. Guru Hara declared them free from old age and death. Then Brahmā addressed Shiva: “O Lord of beings, create others who are subject to birth and death.” Shiva replied, “I have no such creation; you should create inauspicious beings.” Thus, the state of immovability belonged to the god of gods, the wielder of the trident. He possessed the power of creation, self-awareness, and indeed, the authority to preside over all. He himself is Śaṅkara in person, the bearer of the bow Pināka, the supreme lord. With his mind-born sons beside him, his eyes wide with joy, he praised the One Lord of the worlds, joining his hands in reverence upon his head. He offered salutations to Shiva, the divine one, homage to the embodiment of Brahman. He honored the Lord of Pradhāna and Puruṣa, the master of yoga, the holder of Pināka, the three-eyed one, with repeated salutations. He saluted the Lord of the knowledge of Brahman, the giver of the knowledge of Brahman, the essence of the essence of Vedānta, whose form is the very self of the Vedas. He praised Shiva, surrounded by beings freed from various sorrows, offering salutations to the three-eyed god, the supreme lord. He honored the one who is beginningless and free from impurity, who is attainable through knowledge, righteousness, and yoga; to Brahman, the one of universal form, homage to the supreme self. Finally, he acknowledged: “By you, O embodiment of the universe, the world, beginning with Pradhāna, is dissolved.” Thus, the divine narrative unfolds, revealing the glory and transcendence of Shiva, the supreme lord.