To bestow upon them a grace beyond compare, the Lord who had once granted boons to the gods came to the place where Brahmā, the Creator, and Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Preserver, stood together. Overwhelmed by delight and awe, Brahmā and Nārāyaṇa offered their praises to the great God. Yet, mingled with their reverence was a sense of curiosity and fear, so they bowed again and again, keeping a respectful distance from him. The blessed Lord Bhava, bearer of the mighty Pināka bow, gazed upon them with compassion. Then, as they watched, he vanished from their sight as suddenly as he had appeared. Now, I shall recount the cause for the manifestation of Rudra in every cosmic cycle—a manifestation that ensures Brahmā’s work of creation continues whenever its flow is interrupted. In every age, after Brahmā emerges from the cosmic egg and brings forth beings, he becomes troubled and confused when his creations fail to multiply. To dispel Brahmā’s sorrow and to increase the progeny, Rudra, the Lord of the hosts of Rudras, manifests in each cycle as the very embodiment of time. By the will of the Supreme Lord, Maheśa—blue and red in hue—takes birth as Brahmā’s son and, though younger in age, graciously assists him. This blessed Lord, the master and wellspring of all energy, is untouched by affliction and is the origin of all, without beginning or end. He is the mighty one who contracts all beings into himself at dissolution. Endowed with supreme lordship and established in the highest state, he is governed solely by his own power and eternally bears the marks of the Supreme. Though his name is nameless and his form is beyond forms, he performs all deeds appropriate to his nature and upholds the commands of the cosmos. He shone with the brilliance of a thousand suns, adorned with the crescent moon, garlanded with serpents, and wearing armlets, bracelets, and a girdle of sacred munja grass. His body blazed with fragments of the skulls of Jalandhara, Brahmā, and Indra, and his tawny matted hair was half-wet from the surging waves of the Ganga. Beautiful as a mountain at the edge, pressed by the sprouts of broken tusks, he wore a circular earring on the left side of his ear. He rode the great bull, his voice resounded like a mighty cloud, and he blazed like a great fire, full of immense strength and valor. In this terrifying and majestic form, Maheshvara bestowed knowledge upon Brahmā’s daughter and aided in the work of creation. Thus, by Rudra’s grace, in every cycle, the perpetual creation of beings flows forth through Prajapati, like an unbroken current. Once, when Brahmā requested him to create, the blue-red Lord, by his own will, mentally created beings similar to himself. These were matted-haired, fearless, blue-throated, and three-eyed; they were free from old age and death, and bore blazing spears and excellent weapons. These Rudras covered the entire fourteenfold world. Seeing them, Brahmā, the Grandfather of all, addressed Rudra: “Salutations to you, Lord of gods and lords! O red-eyed one, create other beings; may it be well with you. These beings should be endowed with death.” The Supreme Lord smiled and replied, “I do not create such beings; it is for you to create those who are inauspicious. Those whom I have created in my mind are great souls, powerful and steadfast, wholly devoted to sacrifice, and they will act with me.” Having spoken thus, Hara, Lord of all beings, withdrew from the act of creation along with the Rudras and stood apart. From that time, that great God no longer created auspicious beings, but remained steadfast, with his creative power held within, until the dissolution of all beings. Yet, when the beings created by Brahmā still did not increase, the Creator pondered the necessity of creation through union. But, as the race of women had not yet arisen from the Lord, Brahmā was unable to proceed. Thus, with a mind set on purpose, he resolved that for the growth of beings, he must seek the grace of the Supreme Lord. He realized that without the Lord’s favor, the beings would not multiply. So, the Soul of the Universe undertook great austerity. Then, the primordial supreme power—limitless, the source of worlds, most subtle and pure, accessible only to inner experience, and captivating—manifested. This power is devoid of qualities, beyond all manifestation, indivisible, unchanging, more pervasive than space, eternal, and ever-abiding at the side of the Lord. With this supreme power in mind, Brahmā meditated upon the blessed Three-eyed One in his heart and performed the highest austerity. By the intensity of his penance, Parameṣṭhin, the Supreme Being, was soon greatly pleased with his son’s devotion. Then, by a certain portion of himself, Hara, the god of gods, entered into a special form and appeared as Ardhanārīśvara—the Lord who is half-male and half-female. Beholding that supreme God—beyond darkness, imperishable, without a second, indescribable, invisible to those of uncreated nature—Brahmā saw the Lord of all worlds, united with the supreme power that governs all creation. He beheld the unfathomable, formless, immeasurable, ageless, unmoving, peaceful, and infinitely great abode of the Lord. All-pervading, the giver of all, beyond all forms of existence and non-existence, beyond all comparison, eternal, auspicious, and the ultimate refuge—this was the vision before Brahmā. Bowing down in full prostration, Brahmā arose with joined palms and, with words filled with faith and humility, praised the God and Goddess with hymns subtle in meaning and rich with the essence of the Vedas: “Victory to you, O God, great God! Victory, Lord of lords! Victory, best of all virtues! Victory, Lord of all the gods!