With hearts full of reverence, the sages offered their salutations to Tryambaka, the three-eyed Lord, the wielder of the trident, to the god of desire, to the fire-god, and to the Supreme Self. Their praise continued: they bowed to Shankara, the bull-marked one, the Lord of hosts; to the one who holds the staff, to Time itself, and to the one bearing the noose. They honored the foremost in Vedic mantras, the one with a hundred tongues, offering salutations to all that is past, present, and future, to all that is stationary and moving. Addressing the Lord, they declared, "O God, from your body this entire universe has arisen; you protect and destroy it. May all be well with you, be gracious, O Lord." They acknowledged that whatever a man does, whether out of ignorance or knowledge, is accomplished by the Lord alone, through His yogic power. Having thus praised the Lord, the sages, their hearts delighted, approached with austerity and humbly requested, "May we see you as before." Pleased by their devotion, God Shankara assumed his own divine form and granted them sight to behold his three-eyed aspect. With this vision, the sages saw the God of gods, Tryambaka, and, filled with awe, the dwellers of the Daru forest once more praised the Lord. Their adoration was unceasing: "Salutations always to the one clothed in the directions, to Death, to the wielder of the trident, to the fierce and terrible one, to the one with a dreadful face. To the formless, to the beautiful, to the one of universal form—salutations; to the one with jingling ornaments, to Rudra, to the embodiment of the svāhā call—salutations." They bowed to the one whose body is honored by all, who himself bows his own soul; to the blue-crested, the glorious-throated. They praised the blue-throated god, the one adorned with funeral ash, recognizing him as Brahma among gods, the blue-red one among Rudras. "You are the soul of all beings, called Purusha by the Sānkhyas; among mountains, you are Meru, among stars, the moon. Among seers, you are Vasistha; among gods, Vasava; among the Vedas, Om; among Sāman hymns, the best Sāman. Among wild animals, you are the lion, Supreme Lord; among domesticated, the bull, O Blessed One, honored by the worlds." They proclaimed, "Whatever state exists or will exist, we see you alone therein, just as Brahma declared." Seeking wisdom, they asked, "Desire, anger, greed, dejection, and pride—these we wish to understand. Be gracious, Supreme Lord." Recalling the time of great dissolution, they said, "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 by flames; many distorted fires, equal to that fire, exist." They acknowledged that desire, anger, greed, delusion, hypocrisy, calamity, and all beings, both immobile and mobile, are burned by the fire arising from the Lord. "As we are being burned, be our protector, Lord of the gods. For the welfare of the worlds, you sprinkle the beings with auspicious gaze, O Great Lord, master, greatly fortunate." They offered themselves in service: "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." Then, the Blessed Great Lord, gratified by their praise and showing favor, spoke to them: "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: the entire feminine principle is the goddess, born from my own body. The masculine principle is the man, arising from my body; by both alone is my creation, without doubt." He instructed, "Therefore, do 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—those always intent on Mahadeva, living with their seed held upward, worship Mahadeva, restrained in speech, mind, and body. Having attained the world of Rudra, they do not return again; therefore, this vow is divine, mysterious, for those marked by the manifest linga." He continued, "Those who observe the ash vow, who are shaven-headed, and those who undertake vows in various forms—let the wise not revile them, nor transgress their food. Do not laugh at them, nor speak unpleasant words, here or elsewhere, with harmful intent; whoever insults them, that deluded soul insults Mahadeva himself. But whoever worships these people constantly, indeed worships Shankara. Thus this great god, desiring the welfare of the worlds, in every age, the great yogi, covered in ash, plays in this way; act thus, O blessed ones, and you will thereby attain perfection." Those who understood this supreme state, as told by Shiva, which is incomparable and the cause of the destruction of great fear, whose minds are free from worldly attachment, greed, and infatuation, bow swiftly with their heads to the fierce one. Then, the delighted Brahmins, having heard this teaching, with pure sandal-water mixed with sacred grass and flowers, bathed the great Lord with water from large vessels, singing secret hymns and resonant 'hum' sounds. They offered homage to the god of gods, to the great god, to the one whose body is half-woman, the initiator of Sankhya and Yoga.