The disciple, eager for liberation, was instructed to serve and worship his teacher with unwavering devotion, continuing until the teacher’s heart was truly pleased. For when the teacher is pleased, it is said, the disciple’s sins are instantly destroyed. To express this devotion, the disciple was to offer gifts—wealth, jewels, fields, houses, ornaments, garments, vehicles, beds, and seats—according to his means and always with sincerity. Deceit in such offerings was to be avoided by anyone who truly sought the highest path. The teacher was to be regarded as everything: father, mother, husband, relative, wealth, happiness, friend, and companion. Therefore, the disciple was encouraged to offer all he possessed to his teacher. After making these offerings, the disciple would surrender himself, along with his family and possessions, symbolically offering water, and would remain ever under the teacher’s authority. Once a disciple had thus dedicated himself to Shiva, through the person of the teacher, he was truly considered a Shaiva, and from that moment, rebirth would no longer bind him. The teacher, in turn, was to examine the disciple who had sought refuge for a year; if the disciple were a Brahmin, Kshatriya, or Vaishya, the examination would last two or three years. Through instructions—sometimes demanding life or wealth, or through concise commands—the teacher could discern the best among disciples from the least, judging by their actions. Those who, even when insulted or struck, did not lose heart, were deemed fit, restrained, and pure—ready for the rites of Shiva. The ideal disciple was nonviolent, compassionate, ever diligent in mind, humble, intelligent, free from envy, and gentle in speech. He was to be straightforward, pure, disciplined, steadfast, pure in conduct, devoted to Shiva, and of twice-born lineage. Such a disciple, purified in speech, mind, and body, was to be further purified and instructed according to the proper method, as established in the scriptures. Women, the scripture declared, did not have independent authority in Shiva’s rites; their authority came only by their husband’s command, if they were devoted to the Lord. If a woman was without a husband, she required permission from her son or others; a maiden needed her father’s command. For Shudras, mortals, and especially those fallen from the path, ritual purity was not prescribed. However, if they had been granted an artificial status among the devotees of Shiva, the supreme cause, they could purify themselves from sin by offering water for the feet and other acts. Among such, those of proper birth were considered fit among the twice-born. For these, ritual purity and other rites were to be performed according to the mother’s lineage. If a maiden was appointed by her father or others to Shiva’s dharma, she should be given to a devotee—not to an outsider or an opponent. If by mistake she was given to an adversary, she should strive to instruct her husband in righteousness. If unable to do so, she was to abandon him and continue practicing righteousness in her mind, just as a devoted wife, even if separated from a great sage, remains faithful to her husband. The scripture recalled how such a woman had already fulfilled her purpose, having worshipped Shankara through austerity, just as the Pandavas worshipped Narayana through their own penance. She attained husbands through righteousness, not by appointment from elders, and thus, any fault from her lack of independence did not truly exist. Appointed to Shiva’s Dharma out of reverence for Shiva’s command, the scripture concluded that there was little more to say: whoever takes refuge in Shiva, regardless of who they are, is accepted. If one was to be consecrated and placed under the guru’s care, the consecration could not be broken; even the guru’s sight, touch, or conversation was sufficient for consecration. For those in whom wisdom arose, defeat was unknown, and consecration performed mentally, by the path of yoga, was considered secret—accessible only through the guru’s words. The text then spoke of the consecration performed with ritual, beginning with the altar and pavilion, and explained that its full detail was beyond words, but a brief outline would be given. On an auspicious day, in a pure place free from faults, the teacher was to perform the first consecration, known as ‘samaya.’ The ground was to be examined carefully, considering fragrance, color, taste, and so on, following the methods prescribed in the texts of artisans. There, a pavilion was to be constructed. Once the altar was made, fire pits were to be arranged at its center, in the eight directions, the intermediate directions, and again in the northeast. The principal fire pit was to be made, preferably in the western part, and adorned beautifully. Canopies and garlands of flags, of various kinds and in abundance, were to be hung, and a circle with auspicious marks was to be drawn in the middle of the altar. Powders of red and gold, or, if resources were lacking, vermilion, rice, and barley, were to be used for the invocation of the Lord. A lotus design, one or two hand-spans wide, was to be created, its pericarp and filaments measured precisely, with eight petals and other embellishments. This beautiful arrangement was to be placed in the northeast, and again a circle drawn on the altar, one hand-span or half that in size. Upon this, rice, pounded grain, sesame, flowers, and sacred grass were to be spread, and the Śiva pot prepared there, marked with auspicious symbols. The pot could be of gold, silver, copper, or clay, sprinkled with fragrance, flowers, and rice, and adorned with shoots of sacred grass and dūrvā. A white thread was to be tied around its neck, it clothed in two new garments, holding a pure water-filled vessel with offerings and a lid. A black antelope skin, a seat, a conch, or a disc could also be used, or, in their place, a lotus leaf, without the thread and other adornments. On the northern petal of the lotus seat, the vessel for the king of rituals was to be arranged, anointed in front with sandalwood water. Finally, in the eastern part of the maṇḍala and at the mantra vessel as before, after performing all the rites properly, one was to conduct the great worship of the Lord, thus beginning the sacred consecration.