The Grandfather of the worlds, the creator, assigned distinct abodes to eight great beings, each a manifestation of divinity. Among them, Bhima, Ugra, and Mahadeva are counted, and together with others, they are known by seven sacred names. Yet, their forms are eightfold: Initiated, Brahmana, Chandra, and others, each representing a unique aspect of the divine. To these eight-bodied gods, the Grandfather granted the highest, most exalted position. Each was joined with a consort—Svaha, the Directions, Diksha, and Rohini became their wives. From these unions were born sons remembered as Skanda, Sarga, Santāna, and Budha. But after fulfilling his duties of progeny and worldly obligations, the great god renounced all attachment to offspring, duty, and desire. He withdrew into supreme detachment, seeking refuge in the eternal. Immersed in the imperishable, immortal nectar called Brahman, Shiva, through his own mind, created the Rudras—beings who resembled himself in every way. These Rudras bore tridents, destroyed enemies, and were filled with boundless joy. Each had three eyes, and their numbers reached into the hundreds of millions. The Lord, Hara, made them free from passion, endowed with all knowledge, and liberated from old age and death itself. Yet, the Grandfather addressed Shiva, saying: “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—changelessness—came to belong especially to the god of gods, the wielder of the trident. Shiva possessed the power of creation, perfect self-awareness, and the authority to preside over all. He is Śaṅkara himself, the supreme lord who bears the mighty bow Pināka. With his sons, born of his mind and filled with joy, Shiva joined his hands in reverence, raising them to his head, and offered praise to the One Lord of the worlds. He saluted Śiva, the divine one, offering homage to him as the very embodiment of Brahman. He paid respects to the Lord of Pradhāna and Puruṣa, the master of yoga, to the holder of the Pināka bow, the three-eyed one, again and again. He honored the Lord of Brahman-knowledge, the giver of that supreme knowledge, the very essence of Vedānta, whose form is the soul of the Vedas. He praised the Lord who is surrounded by beings freed from all sorrows, saluting the three-eyed god, the supreme lord. He honored him who is beginningless, pure, and attainable only through knowledge, righteousness, and yoga. He offered homage to Brahman, the one of universal form, the supreme self. He acknowledged that by this Lord—who is the very embodiment of the universe—the world, beginning with Pradhāna, is dissolved. Shiva, tranquil, partless, and the supreme remover, is the infinite person, as well as Pradhāna and Prakṛti. To this form, revered as Brahman, he bowed. He offered salutations to the one whose belly is the vast sky, who shines forth in all directions, who is eternally radiant with the light of Brahman, the essence of the sun. He honored him as the essence of fire, the offering for the ancestors, as the essence of Soma, drunk by the gods, and as the essence of wind, whose power moves with the greatness of Maheśvara. He saluted the Lord who abides in his own self, the essence of the four-faced Brahma, and who is the very soul of the universe, realized through union with one’s own self. Thus, with devotion and reverence, the story of Shiva’s supreme nature and his praise was sung by his very own mind-born sons.