Hear now of the One who is the very source of all causes, the supreme cause behind everything, and the one who meditates upon all causes. He is never born from another—at no time, from no place, does he arise from elsewhere. Endowed with all lordship, he is known by the name “Lord of All,” and it is upon him that all seekers of liberation should fix their meditation. This is Shambhu, who dwells in the midst of space. It was he who, in the beginning, created me—his son—and by his grace alone I have been granted knowledge and have attained the position of Prajapati. This Lord stands unmoving, like a tree in the sky, solitary and steadfast. It is by his great soul that the entire universe is filled. Among the many beings, he alone is active while others remain inactive; he alone, taking countless forms, becomes the very seed of all existence—he is the great Lord. He alone is the blessed Rudra, with no second beside him. Though he ever resides in the hearts of all people, he is not perceived by others; yet, perceiving all, he abides perennially throughout the universe. He, the Lord of infinite power, remains when all causes—released from the bonds of time—have ceased. For him there is neither day nor night, neither equal nor superior; his supreme power is his very nature—eternal, consisting of both knowledge and action. That which is perishable and unmanifest, and that which is immortal and imperishable—both these, whose essence is imperishable, are none other than the one god, Hara. Whoever, by meditating on this truth, becomes established in its reality—at the end of bondage, for such a one, the illusion of the universe ceases. In him, neither lightning, nor sun, nor moon shines; by his light alone does all this shine. This is the eternal teaching. The one god, the great god, is to be known as the great Lord; yet, his supreme state cannot be attained. He is the beginning, yet himself without beginning or end, pure by his own nature, independent, utterly full—moving and unmoving as he wills. His form is beyond nature, glorious, free from all marks and characteristics; he is both liberated and the liberator, timeless, and the mover of time itself. Dwelling beyond all, yet present in all, he is all-knowing. Master of the sixfold flow of time, he is the lord of the entire world. He is the highest among higher beings, and beyond even the highest; he is the endless union of the infinite and the finite, like the honeybee ever at the nectar of the unending lotus. He is the wise one who fuses the unbroken cosmic eggs into a single mass; he is the very abode of generosity, heroism, depth, sweetness, and awe. There is nothing equal to him, nor anything greater—he stands incomparable among all beings, the king of kings. By his wondrous act, the world is first created, and at the end of time, this same world dissolves back into him. All beings are under his control; he directs all, yet he is revealed only through supreme devotion—never otherwise, anywhere. All vows, gifts, austerities, and disciplines—these were declared by the wise of old for the sake of their inner meaning; of this there is no doubt. Even now, Hari, I, Rudra, and the other gods and demons, with fierce austerities, long for a vision of him. He remains unseen by the fallen, the deluded, and the wicked, even the contemptible; but by devotees, both within and without, he is to be worshiped and addressed. His form is threefold: gross, subtle, and supreme. The gross is seen by us and the immortals; the subtle, by yogis. But that which is supreme—eternal, knowledge, bliss, imperishable—is seen only by those devoted to it, established in that vow. Why say more? The highest secret of secrets is this: there is no doubt that devotion to Shiva, when practiced, brings liberation. That devotion arises only from grace, and grace is born of devotion—just as a sprout comes from a seed, and a seed from a sprout. All attainments for the soul, everywhere, are preceded by grace; and by all means, in the end, it is achieved through grace alone. The means to grace is dharma, as revealed by the Veda; through its practice comes balance between merit and demerit. From this balance arises contact with grace, and from that, the excellence of dharma; attaining this excellence, the soul’s sins are destroyed. Thus, when sin is diminished, gradually over many births, devotion to Sāmba, the Lord of all, arises—preceded by knowledge. The Lord’s grace is bestowed according to one’s disposition; from grace comes the abandonment of action—not in essence, but in its fruit. Therefore, from the renunciation of the fruit of action arises the auspicious path of Shiva’s dharma, which is twofold: independent of a teacher, or dependent upon one. In this, the one who acts with intention is a hundredfold superior to one who acts without intention, for in this lineage of Shiva’s law, union with the knowledge of Shiva is foremost. Through the influence of knowledge, a person perceives the defects of worldly existence; from that arises dispassion toward sense objects, and from dispassion comes the cultivation of the right inner disposition. For one who has attained this, steadfastness is found in meditation, not in mere action; for one engaged in knowledge and meditation, yoga is set in motion. Through yoga, supreme devotion arises, and grace follows thereafter; by grace, the living being is liberated and becomes equal to Shiva. The sequence of the mode of grace is not fixed; as is a person’s fitness, so is the grace bestowed upon him. Some are liberated while still in the womb, others at birth; another as a child, a youth, or even as an old man.