In reverence and humility, the sages and devotees approached Rudra, the thousand-eyed Lord, whose quivers are countless and whose arrows are swift. With folded hands, they implored him: “O mighty Rudra, lower your formidable bow, let the sharp points of your arrows be broken, and turn toward us with auspiciousness and kindness.” They offered salutations to his weapon, to the one who wields it, and to his mighty arms and his powerful bow. With deep concern, they pleaded, “Do not bring harm upon the great or the small, neither upon the young nor the grown. Spare our fathers and mothers, and protect our cherished bodies, O Rudra.” Their prayers extended to the well-being of all: “Do not harm our children or our descendants, nor diminish our lifespans. Let our cattle and horses remain safe, and may our valiant, radiant men—those who honor you with offerings—be unharmed, for we invoke you always.” With each breath, the worshippers offered salutations to every aspect of Rudra: to his golden arms, his command, his lordship over all directions and beings; to the trees, the green-haired, the lord of cattle, the tawny radiant one, the lord of paths, and the nourisher of all. They honored him as the roaring one, the hunter, the provider of food, the bearer of Bhava’s weapon, the lord of beings, the archer, the master of fields and forests, the charioteer, and the destroyer. They saluted the red one, the builder, the lord of trees, the earth-dweller, the bringer of water, the lord of herbs, the counselor, the merchant, the lord of enclosures, the loud-voiced, the wailer, and the lord of foot-soldiers. Their homage was to the all-pervading runner, the enduring, the piercer, the vigilant quiver-bearer, the lord of thieves, the low-voiced wanderer, and the master of the wilderness. They saluted the deceiver, the circumventer, the lord of robbers, the arrow-holder, the cutters and slayers, the sword-bearers, the night-wanderers, and the lord of those who cut. They honored the turbaned mountain-dweller, the arrow-bearers, the bowmen, the stringers and replacers of bows, the drawers and shooters of arrows. Salutations flowed to the releasers and shooters, the sleepers and the wakeful, those lying down, sitting, standing, and running. No group was left unrecognized: assemblies and their leaders, horses and their lords, female piercers and shooters, troops and the mighty, the hosts and their leaders, the clever and their masters, the deformed and the all-formed, armies and commanders, charioteers and non-charioteers, drivers and gatherers, the great and the small. The artisans, carpenters, chariot-makers, potters, Nishadas, heap-makers, dogs, hunters, and their lords were all saluted. So too were Bhava and Rudra, Sharva and the lord of cattle, the blue-necked and the fair-throated, the one with matted hair and the shaven-headed, the thousand-eyed, the bearer of a hundred bows, the lord of mountains, the pervader, the generous, and the swift-moving. They honored the short and the dwarf, the great and the greater, the aged and the one who increases, the foremost and the first, the swift and the fleet, the rapid and the quick, the wave and the flowing, the roaring and the island-dweller. Salutations were offered to the eldest and the youngest, the one born before and after, the one in the middle and not fully grown, the lowest and the base. To the splendid and the returning, the southern and the peaceful, the renowned and the final, the fertile and the threshing ground, the wild and the border, the hearing and the echoing, the swift army and chariot, the hero and the penetrator. They remembered the one in the cave and the armored, with shield and mail, the renowned and the renowned army, the drum and the invincible, the bold and the toucher, the one with a quiver, skilled in arrows, sharp-arrowed, armed, self-armed, and the good bowman. They saluted the flowing and the path, the ditch and the heap, the canal and the lake, the roaring and the tranquil, the well and the pit, the watercourse and the heated, the pure and the lightning, the rainy and the non-rainy, the windy and the rushing, the resident and the guardian of the dwelling, Soma and Rudra, the copper-colored and the red. They honored the horned and the lord of cattle, the fierce and the terrible, the slayer at the front and at a distance, the killer and the one to be killed, the trees and the green-haired, and the star. Salutations were to the source of happiness, the bringer of joy, the beneficent, the maker of happiness, the auspicious, the most auspicious. They honored the one at the boundary and beyond, the one who crosses and lifts across, the one at the ford and the canal, the grassy and the foamy, the sandy and the flowing, the stony and the decaying, the one with matted hair, the descendant of Pulastya, the desert and the broad path. They remembered the one in the pasture and the cattle pen, on the mat and in the house, in the heart and the dwelling, in the ditch and the cavern. They saluted the dry and the green, the dusty and the misty, the ploughed and the tilled, the earth and the sunlit, the leafy and the leaf-bearer, the one who uproots and strikes, who shakes and makes tremble, the makers of arrows and bows, the scatterers, the searchers, the destroyers, the invincible. With devotion, they prayed, “O destroyer, lord of food, impoverished one, blue and red-hued, do not harm these beings or our cattle; do not strike or injure us in any way.” To Rudra, the mighty, the matted-haired, the destroyer of the brave, they offered their thoughts, seeking peace for bipeds and quadrupeds alike, that all in the village might be nourished and free from distress. “O Rudra, with your auspicious, ever-beneficent form, universal healer and remedy for all suffering, grant us happiness and life. May your missile turn away from us, may your fierce wrath and evil intention pass us by. O gracious one, protect the generous, shield our children and descendants, and grant us mercy.” They entreated him: “Most generous, most auspicious, be kindly disposed toward us. Having set your weapon down on the highest tree, clad in a hide, come near, bearing your bow Pinaka. Scatterer, red-hued, to you be homage, O Lord; may your thousand missiles fall elsewhere, away from us.” Thus, with heartfelt supplication and unending praise, they sought Rudra’s favor, his protection, and his blessings for all beings.