Holding a blazing firebrand in his hand, his eyes red and tawny, the great god moved through the forest. At times, he laughed with a fierce, resounding voice; at other times, he sang in wonder. Sometimes he danced with amorous abandon, sometimes he roared again and again, wandering through the hermitage, repeatedly begging for alms. By his own divine power, the god assumed this extraordinary form and entered the forest. The sages dwelling there, their minds composed and tranquil, recognized his presence and began to praise him. Along with their wives, sons, and attendants, these highly fortunate sages gathered together, bearing water, garlands of many kinds, incense, and fragrant offerings in reverence. With devotion, the sages addressed the Lord, saying, “O God of gods, whatever wrongs we have done in ignorance—whether by deed, by mind, or by speech—may you forgive all of that. Our actions have been diverse, some secret, some profound, but all are yours to pardon. O Hara, even for gods like Brahma and the others, your ways are difficult to comprehend; we do not know your coming nor your going. O Lord of all, Great God, you are who you are—salutations to you! The great souls praise you, O God of gods, O Supreme Lord.” They continued their hymn of praise: “Salutations to Bhava, to the Auspicious One, to the source and cause of existence; to the one of infinite strength and power, to the Lord of beings, salutations. To the destroyer, to the tawny-hued one, to the imperishable and the perishable, to the bearer of the Ganga’s stream, to the support, to the essence of all qualities—salutations. To Tryambaka, the three-eyed one, the wielder of the trident; to the god of desire, to the fire-god, to the Supreme Self—salutations. To Shankara, to the one marked by the bull, to the Lord of the hosts—salutations; to the one holding the staff, to Time itself, to the one holding the noose—salutations indeed. To the one who is foremost in Vedic mantras, who has a hundred tongues—salutations; to all that is past, present, and future, to all that is stationary and moving. “O God, from your very body this entire universe has arisen; you protect and you destroy it—may all be well with you, be gracious, O Lord. Whatever a man does, whether from ignorance or knowledge, all of it, O Lord, is done by you alone through your yogic power.” Having thus offered their praises, the sages, their hearts delighted, approached the Lord with great humility and said, “May we see you as before.” Pleased by their devotion, God Shankara assumed his own true form and, granting them divine sight, revealed himself as the three-eyed Lord. With this vision, the sages beheld the God of gods, Tryambaka, and once more, those dwellers of the Daru forest poured forth their hymns of praise. They offered salutations to the one clothed in the directions, to Death, to the wielder of the trident, to the fierce and terrible one with a dreadful face. They praised the formless and the beautiful, the one of universal form; to the one adorned with jingling ornaments, to Rudra, to the very embodiment of the sacred svāhā call. They bowed to the one whose body is bowed to by all, who bows his own soul, to the blue-crested, glorious-throated Lord. They honored the blue-throated god, adorned with funeral ash, who is Brahma among the gods and the blue-red one among the Rudras. They declared, “You are the soul of all beings, called Purusha by the Sānkhyas; among mountains, you are great Meru, among stars, the moon. Among seers, you are Vasistha; among gods, you are Vasava; among all the Vedas, you are Om, and among Sāman hymns, you are the best Sāman. Among wild animals, you are the lion, Supreme Lord; among the domesticated, you are the bull, O Blessed One, honored by the worlds. Whatever state exists or will exist in any way, we see you alone therein, just as Brahma declared.” The sages then humbly asked, “Desire, anger, greed, dejection, and pride—these we wish to understand; be gracious, Supreme Lord. At the time of the great dissolution, O God, you composed yourself and placed your hand on your forehead, and from you, fire was produced. By that fire, the worlds were surrounded on all sides by flames; many distorted fires, equal to that fire, exist. Desire, anger, greed, delusion, hypocrisy, calamity, and all other beings, both immobile and mobile, are burned by the fire that arises from you. As we are being burned, be our protector, Lord of the gods. For the welfare of the worlds, you sprinkle the beings with your auspicious gaze, O Great Lord, greatly fortunate, our master. Command us, O Lord; we are ready to carry out your word. Among the thousands of classes of beings and the hundreds of forms, we are not able to reach the end, O God of gods; homage to you.” Hearing these words, the Blessed Great Lord, gratified and showing favor, spoke to the sages: “Whoever recites or hears this hymn sung by you, or causes twice-born Brahmins to hear it, attains the state of Ganapati. I will tell you what is beneficial and holy for devotees, O best of sages: the entire feminine principle is the goddess, born from my own body. The masculine principle is the man, O Brahmins, arising from my body. Indeed, by both alone is my creation, O Brahmins, without doubt. “Therefore, one should not revile the ascetic, the peerless one clad in directions, the child, the madman, or the one devoted to me who speaks of Brahman. Those who are devoted to me, smeared with ashes, whose sins are burned by ashes, who act as prescribed, self-restrained Brahmins devoted to meditation—such are my true devotees.” Thus, the Lord spoke, and the sages, their hearts full of wonder and devotion, listened with reverence to his holy words.