He took the hair from his own body and fashioned it into a sacred thread, and from his great bones he made a rosary of beads. Breaking off another piece, he placed it within his matted locks, adopting the marks of a wandering ascetic. Clad only in a loincloth, he roamed naked, carrying a skull in his hand—a skull-bearing ascetic, his only garment the simplest cloth. When even that fell away, he remained unclothed, the skull ever present in his grasp. He bathed again and again in the holy fords of the blessed earth, which spans seven continents, seeking purification. His journey led him first to the sacred Sarasvatī, then to the confluence with the Yamunā. From there, he traveled to the rivers Vitastā, Candrabhāgā, and Gomatī, and also to the mighty Sindhu. He continued on to Nepāla, then to the great shrine of Rudra, then to Maheśvara, and finally to the holy city of Gayā. In this way, O bearer of beings, he swiftly traversed the entire universe, passing from one sacred place to another in his quest. For two years, Hara himself wandered from ford to ford, striving to cast off the skull, but it would not leave his hand. Again, for another two years, he journeyed throughout the universe, seeking liberation at the holy fords, but the skull remained. Even as he tried to let it go, it clung stubbornly to his hand. Then, for a year, he stayed on the slopes of the Himālaya. Yet again, for two more years, the supreme Lord Vṛṣākapi wandered, his vow unbroken. At last, in the twelfth year, while he was on the mountain, the Lord of gods bathed in the sacred Gaṅgā. There, at that very spot, the ford became known as Kapālamocana—the unsurpassed holy place where the skull is freed. After bathing at the sacred place of Hari and Hara, and bowing at the divine ford known as Trijaleśvara, his long penance came to fruition. Twelve years had passed, and the groups of boundary-guardians were present. There, at Kapālamocana, the holy site that removes all sin, Rudra was finally purified—freed from the terrible sin of Brahmin-slaying. It is said that even a Brahmin-slayer who bathes there with devotion is purified. All the gods gathered together and addressed him: “O Rudra, wide-eyed, established on the path of the world! O Rudra, with uneven eyes, who wandered with the skull in your hand, fierce in your penance! What became tawny for you on the highest peak of the Himalaya, now, at this holy site, has brought you bodily purity. The gods who worship you, placing you first and following the prescribed rites, perform vows that you yourself established. The vow of nakedness, the bearing of the skull, and the tawny vow you undertook—these are observed, O god, by those who revere you in the proper way. Tell us, O great god, the proper procedure, in brief.” Pleased by the gods’ words, Rudra departed to his abode on Mount Kailāsa. The gods too returned to the heavens and to their own places as they had come. And all the deeds of the great god became known upon the earth. Thus ends the ninety-seventh chapter, “The Greatness of Rudra,” in the glorious Varaha Purana. Now begins the next chapter, concerning the mountain. There was a certain brahmin named Satyatapa, who became greedy. Meanwhile, Durvasa, intent on fulfilling his vow, went to the mountain Himavat. Tell me, O illustrious one, what kind of person was Satyatapa? I am greatly curious, for Satyatapa was once a brahmin born in the lineage of Bhrigu.