After the destruction of the triple city, the mighty leader of the demons, surrounded by countless hordes, approached the Lord of gods—Rudra. He offered his obeisance and stood there shining, his presence radiant amidst the vast assembly. The arrow that had ended the age had been unleashed, and just as Rudra’s power pervaded the three worlds, so too did the reverence for him spread everywhere: even among the demons and their kin, worship of Rudra became the custom. Through the potency of the great ritual, the demons themselves began to adopt the worship of Gaṇapati. The gods—Indra, Upendra, and the lords of the celestial hosts—remained silent, witnessing this transformation. Fear gripped the assembly, for they saw Rudra and the goddess, the daughter of Himavat, and beheld the gods trembling in awe before the foremost of deities. Rudra then addressed the gods, asking, “What is this?” All the gods bowed to him from every direction. Their reverence extended to Nandin, adorned with the moon, to the one born of the mountain king, to the lord who is the son of the mountain’s daughter, and to Maheśvara himself. Brahmā, with all the gods, focused their minds and praised Bhava, the Lord, the enemy of Tripura, together with Viṣṇu. Their voices rose in supplication: “Be gracious, Lord of gods; be gracious, Supreme Lord; be gracious, Lord of the worlds; be gracious, undying giver of bliss.” They bowed to Rudra, the five-faced one, whose forms number fifty million, who is seated in the three selves and is the essence of knowledge. Again and again, they saluted Śiva, the principle of Śiva, the Aghora form, the essence of the eightfold Aghora, and the one whose nature is twelvefold. They praised him whose form shines like millions of lightning flashes, splendid in eightfold radiance, abiding in this world as the soul of Śiva. To the one of fiery hue, fierce, whose body is half Ambikā, who grants liberation to the white, dark, and red immortals—they offered their salutations. They bowed to the eldest, to the Rudra form, to Soma, to the giver of boons, to the lord of the three worlds, to the three gods, to the utterer of vaṣaṭ. Salutations flowed to the one who is the form of the sky in the midst, who abides in the sky, who is eightfold in fields and forms, and who is the eight principles. They honored the one established in fourfold and again fourfold and again fourfold ways, and in fivefold and again fivefold, whose body is the five mantras. Again and again, they saluted the one of sixty-four forms, to the letter ‘A’, to the one whose form is the thirty-two principles, to the letter ‘U’. They offered salutations to the one whose nature is sixteenfold, to the letter ‘M’, and to the one whose nature is eightfold, to the half-syllable as the self. To Oṃkāra, established in fourfold ways, to the lord of the sky, to the god, to the lord of heaven, they bowed again and again. They saluted the Seven Worlds, the lord of the underworlds and hells, the eight sacred places, the eight forms, and the one higher than the highest. To the one with a thousand heads, a thousandfold, endowed with a thousand feet, to Śarva, the Supreme Lord, they bowed. They honored the one who is the form of the nine essential principles, whose power is the nine and eightfold self, who shines forth in eight ways, and who is the eightfold eight-formed One. To the sixty-four essential principles of the self, who is again of eightfold nature, surrounded by eight qualities, who possesses qualities and is yet beyond qualities, they offered salutations. They bowed to the one who abides at the root, who dwells in the eternal place, who is established in the navel region, and who causes resonance in the heart. To the one established in the throat, present at the palate’s opening, situated between the eyebrows, and abiding in the midst of sound, they bowed. They honored the one established in the orb of the moon, who is Śiva, who takes the form of Śiva, who is of the forms of fire, moon, and sun, and who embodies thirty-six energies. To the one who envelops the worlds in three ways, is the self of the sleeping serpent, established in three forms, and whose form is the fire of the threefold sacrificial altar, they bowed. To Sadāśiva, the peaceful one, the great Lord, wielder of the Pināka bow, all-knowing, the refuge, and to Sadyojāta, they bowed. Salutations flowed to Aghora, to Vāmadeva, to Tatpuruṣa, and repeated salutations to Īśāna. They bowed to the thirtyfold radiance, to the one beyond peace, to the Lord of infinity, to the subtle one, to the highest. They saluted the one-eyed, the one Rudra, the three-formed, to Śrīkaṇṭha, the crested one. To the one seated on the endless seat, endless and destroyer of the end, pure, vast, and whose limbs are spotless, they bowed. To the one seated on the pure seat, the form of pure meaning and purpose, dwelling in the inner seat of yoga, who is the yogi and giver of yoga, they bowed. They honored the one who ever dwells in the hearts of yogis, like unhulled rice, who is withdrawal itself, and always devoted to withdrawal. To the one established as the support for those devoted to withdrawal, as concentration, and ever devoted to concentration, they bowed. To the one present before those engaged in concentration, to meditation, to the form of meditation, attainable through meditation, they offered their salutations. To the object of meditation, attainable by meditation, who is meditation and the meditated-upon, who is the object of meditation even for those who meditate, and who is most worthy of meditation, they bowed. They saluted the one approached through concentration, the embodiment of concentration, who takes the form of the objectless state cherished by those devoted to absorption. “O Rudra,” they prayed, “today you have burned and lifted up all this threefold world; who could wish to praise you, the destroyer of the three cities, and how could I praise you, O Shiva, who are already satisfied?” Because of devotion, satisfaction, and your wondrous appearance, even mortals and immortals, O God of gods, these hosts of gods and perfected beings, bow down to you, O Lord of hosts, O Lord of the Gaṇas. “O Sovereign, merely by your glance you are able to burn the three cities and the three worlds; with Ambika as your playful army, you burned them in an instant, and then were released from the arrows.” Thus, the gods and all beings offered their praise, awe, and devotion to Rudra, recognizing his supreme power and boundless grace.