Hari, with a gentle and reverent heart, began to praise the Supreme Lord, offering salutations to Rudra, to Sharva, to the great devourer, and to Vishnu. He bowed to the fierce and terrible one, to the wrathful and angry, to Bhava, Sharva, Shankara, and Shiva—offering his respects again and again to the Lord of all. He honored the One who is Time itself, the great Time, Death, the valiant hero Virabhadra, the destroyer of heroes, and the wielder of the spear. Hari saluted the great god, the mighty one, the lord of all creatures, the solitary ascetic, the blue-throated and radiant-throated, and the wielder of the bow. He bowed to the infinite and the subtle, to the wrath of death, to the supreme and highest Lord, to the greatest of the great. Hari offered salutations to the One who is the universe itself, who is the form of all, to the consort and field of Vishnu, to the radiant one. He honored the boatman, the hunter, the great disease, the eternal, Bhairava the refuge, and the one with the great Bhairava form. Salutations were given to the destroyer of Narasimha, the slayer of Kama, Kala, and Purā, the destroyer of great bonds, and the ender of Vishnu’s illusion. He praised Tryambaka, the three-lettered one, the all-pervading, the gracious, the conqueror of death, Sharva, the all-knowing, and the destroyer of sacrifices. Hari saluted the lord of sacrifices, the most excellent, the fire-formed, the great nose, the tongue, and the mover of breath and expiration. He offered homage to the one of three qualities, bearer of the trident, transcender of qualities, the supreme yogi, the flow of worldly existence, and the great mover of the cosmic mechanism. He bowed to the one who is the moon, fire, and sun, the source of diverse liberations, the giver of boons, the one who descends, and the cause of all causes. Hari saluted the skull-bearer, the fierce and virtuous lord, the unfailing one, the fire-eyed, the club-wielding, the auspicious one. He praised the supreme physician, the staff-holder, the embodiment of yoga, the cloud-rider, the god, and the lord of Pārvatī. He bowed to the unmanifest, the sorrowless, the steadfast, the firm-bowed, the immovable, the one clothed in hides, the cause of the five meanings. Hari honored the boon-giver, the one-footed, the wearer of the crescent moon, the lord of sacrifices, and the master of ages. He saluted the lord of yogis, the eternal, the true, the supreme, the soul of all, the lord of all. “Let there be salutations to you once, twice, thrice, four, five, and ten times; let there be salutations to you a thousand times,” he declared. Having offered countless salutations, infinite times, again and again, Hari continued his worship. Thus, after praising the Lord with eight hundred immortal names, Narasimha prayed once more to Śarabheśvara, asking, “Whenever my ignorance, corrupted by excessive ego, arises, O Supreme Lord, may you yourself remove it.” Thus, expressing himself before Śaṅkara, the lion-man said, “Indeed, O Viṣṇu, you are powerless, defeated at the end of life.” Then, with only the face remaining and the entire form destroyed, Virabhadra instantly subdued that fierce being. At this, all the gods, beginning with Brahmā, exclaimed, “O Virabhadra, by your sight we gods have been revived, like trees refreshed by rain.” They recognized the power by whose command fire burns, the sun rises, the wind blows, and even death runs as the fifth among them. They declared, “That which is unmanifest, the supreme space beyond all division, the eternal Śiva—O Lord, the knowers of Brahman declare you alone to be that. Who are we in this realm of elements and perception? The Supreme Lord cannot be known by descriptions of form, beauty, or color.” In all calamities, the gods prayed, “Protect us, O lord of the gaṇas, eleven-formed one; the blessed Hara exists in manifold forms. Having witnessed your countless incarnations, O Shiva, we may see darkness arise at times, but we are not shaken, for our minds are cleared by contemplation of you.” They requested, “All the various forms you have assumed on the slopes of Guñja Mountain, withdraw them; your path is not determined by distinctions of higher and lower. The Brahmins who know the Vedas recognize two bodies of Rudra: one fierce, the other auspicious; each is manifold in its own way.” “Protect us here, O Lord, ever unconquered and mighty; your radiance pervades the entire world. Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, Chandra, and all the foremost gods and demons have arisen from you, O Maheshvara. Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, Yama, and others, after subduing gods and demons, addressed Hari as ‘Lion’ in their minds.” “Since you bear all things, dividing your body into eight forms, therefore protect us, O Lord, with the gifts desired by the gods.” Then the divine Lord spoke to the gods and ancient sages: “Just as water merges with water, milk with milk, ghee with ghee, so too—” At that moment, Vishnu alone was merged in Shiva, and not otherwise; this very one is the soul of Narasimha, proud and immensely strong. The lion-man, engaged in the destruction of the world, is to be worshipped; salutations to him by those who seek devotion to me. Having spoken thus, the mighty Virabhadra vanished from sight among all beings. From that time onward, Shankara wore the skin of Narasimha, and his face was established as the leader in the garland of skulls.