When a person truly recognizes the greatness of the Supreme Lord, all sorrow dissolves, and lasting happiness dawns within. For this Lord is the very essence of the Vedas, the sacrifices, the passing seasons, and all that has ever been or will ever be. Abiding within all, the Lord brings forth the universe through His wondrous power of illusion—know that this illusion is nature itself, and the wielder of illusion is the Great Lord. With His very being, He pervades the entire cosmos; subtler than the subtlest, He is present even in the midst of the embryo, unseen yet ever there. When one comes to know Shiva as the creator and enveloping Lord of the universe, supreme peace is attained. He alone is time, the protector, the ruler, the master of all that exists. By knowing this Lord of all, one is freed from the bonds of death. The subtle Lord, hidden like the finest essence beyond clarified butter, dwells in all beings—knowing Him, one is freed from all sin. He alone is the supreme God, the maker of the universe, the Great Lord; knowing Him, who is established in the heart, one partakes of immortality. When all distinctions vanish—when there is neither day nor night, neither being nor non-being—then only Shiva remains, the source from whom ancient wisdom arises. No one has grasped Him above, across, or in the middle; He has no likeness, yet His name is renowned in all the worlds. Some wise and fearless souls know Him as the unborn one; seeking His protection, they approach the auspicious right side of Rudra. Two imperishable syllables are spoken of as the supreme Brahman, infinite and all-encompassing; within them, both knowledge and ignorance are said to be concealed, as in a secret place. Ignorance is perishable, but knowledge is immortal, and He who rules over both is the Great Lord. He makes the manifold world appear like a net, yet remains ever one. After creating all, He reigns supreme over everything by His own power. Shining by Himself, He illumines all directions—above, below, and across—though without inherent nature, He alone, the excellent, abides. Transforming all things—each by its own nature and all that is denoted, as well as qualities, in both the enjoyer and the enjoyed—He pervades the universe. The gods and great sages know that supreme Brahman, the source of Brahma and the origin of the world, though He remains hidden in the secret teachings of the Upanishads. Those who know Shiva as the one realized through direct experience, desireless, who brings about both existence and nonexistence, and creates the divisions of time—such ones, when their time comes, abandon the body. Some, deluded, regard nature as ultimate; others, time. But truly, it is the greatness of this God by which the world is made to revolve. It is He by whom all is ever enveloped, whose essence is beyond time and its measure, through whom all action is performed, and by whose will the elements transform. Having performed these actions again and again, and at last ceasing from them, one attains union with the principle, merging with its own essence through yoga. By eight, by three, by two, or by one—again, through time and the qualities of the self—the entire world is manifested by Him alone. Beginning with qualities, actions are joined to nature and other principles; yet, in their absence, even actions already performed are destroyed. When one action is exhausted, another follows; thus, He proceeds according to the principle. He alone is the origin, the cause of union between the enjoyer and the enjoyment. He is beyond the three times—past, present, and future—without time, the supreme Lord, all-knowing, master of the three qualities, directly Brahman, the highest of the high. We worship Him, the Lord of creation, the source of existence and nonexistence, praised by all, the God of gods, honored throughout the world, abiding within our own minds. Because the universe is transformed by time and other forces, we worship the Lord of enjoyment, the abode of the world, who brings virtue and removes sin. We know that God, the supreme among lords, the great Lord, the highest among deities, the Lord of lords, the supreme beyond all, the ruler of the world and its rulers. He has no work, no cause; nothing equal or greater is found anywhere in the world. His supreme powers are manifold and innate, as declared in the scriptures: knowledge, strength, and action, by which this universe is created. He has no master, no mark, no ruler; He is the cause of causes, the Lord of their lords. He has no creator, nor birth from anywhere; nor are there causes of birth such as impurity or illusion. He alone, hidden in all beings, pervades everywhere; He is the inner self of all beings, called the overseer of righteousness. He is the abode of all beings, the witness, consciousness itself, without qualities; the one master among many inactive, among many compelled souls. He is eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious; the one, though Himself desireless, who grants desires to the many. Having realized, through Sāṃkhya and Yoga, that cause who is the Lord of the worlds, and knowing that God, the soul is released from all bonds. He is the creator of the universe, the knower of the universe, self-born, the knower of origins, the maker of time, endowed with qualities, the primordial one, the lord of the field-knower, the lord of qualities, and the liberator from all bonds. He who once created Brahma and Himself taught the Vedas—having known that God, through the clarity of my own understanding, I have realized Him. Desiring liberation from this endless cycle of existence, I take refuge in Shiva, who is without fruit, without action, peaceful, faultless, and stainless. He is the supreme bridge to immortality, like wind to burnt fuel; when people try to wrap the sky as with a hide, then, without knowing Shiva, the end of suffering will come.