Devas Praise Shiva

Vishnu and the others said

Lord of gods, Mahadeva, who decreed the customs of the world, by your compassion we know you are the brahman, Ishvara Shambhu. Father, why do you confound us with your supreme maya? Parameshvara, you cannot be fathomed and always delude men. Purusha and Prakriti are the seed and womb of the universe, but you are beyond them. You are the supreme brahman, out of reach of speech and thought. Like a spider with its web, you spin your strands and create and protect the universe. Shiva, you play with Shakti, your own form. Ishana, full of compassion, it was you who made the sacrifice; you used Daksha as a strand, and you are always lord of the three. You peopled the worlds and set the ordinances, followed by brahmanas skilled in the Vedic path, pure, firm in vows and full of faith. Lord, auspicious sacrifices bring happiness to the doer and others, while inauspicious acts can bring benefit, mixed results or harm. You always give the fruits of every karma, and all the shrutis say you are the source and lord of fame. Those who undertake endless karma with wicked wishes are low in intelligence; full of envy, those fools torment others with harsh words. Lord, though such gods deserve to be killed, you should not kill them. You are Bhagavan Paramesha, supreme lord; be merciful to them.

We bow to Rudra, the serene. You are the brahman and the paramatman, Mahesha of the matted hair; we bow to that great radiance. You are the creator of the universe and of its creator, the great-grandfather. The three gunas are in your atman, yet you are without qualities, beyond Purusha and Prakriti. We bow to Nilakantha, the creator and paramatman. You are the universe, its seed and the cause of its bliss. You are Aumkara, Vashatkara and the beginner of every undertaking, Hantakara and Svadhakara, who always take the havya and kavya. You love dharma; how could you break up the sacrifice? Mahadeva, lord, you do what benefits brahmanas; how could you destroy the sacrifice? You protect brahmanas, cattle and dharma, and at the end you are always the refuge of all beings. Bhagavan Rudra, your splendour is that of infinite suns; we bow to you.

We bow to Bhava, the divinity in juices and water; to Sharva, the fragrant one who has the form of earth; to the fiery Rudra in the form of fire. Isha, we bow to you as wind and touch. You are Pashupati, the sacrificer and creator. Bhima, we bow to you as space and the principle of sound. We bow to Mahadeva as Soma and pravritti, and to Ugra, the sun's form, the yogi who performs karma. We bow to the destroyer of Kala, to wrathful Rudra, to terrible Shiva who is also auspicious Shankara. As Ugra you control all beings, yet for us you are the auspicious. You make yourself pervade the universe; you are the brahman, remover of afflictions, Ambika's lord, Uma's lord. You are Sharva in every form, Purusha the paramatman, beyond the manifestations of cause and effect, the great cause. We bow to the one born in many extensive forms in the world; to Nila, Nilarudra, Kadrudra and Prachetas; to the divinity Midushtama; to the one pervaded by rays, to the greatest. You always slay the gods' enemies. You are blazing Tara, Sutara and Taruna. We bow to the tawny-haired, to Mahesha, to Shambhu of the gods, to absolution, to the paramatman, to the supreme. We bow to the dark-throated, to the golden Paresha with the golden body, to Bhima terrible in form and deed, who smears himself with bhasma and wears rudraksha. We bow to the short and the tall, to the dwarf, to the divinity who can kill from afar and from the front, to the wielder of bow, trident, mace and plough. To destroy daityas and danavas you carry many kinds of weapons. We bow to Sadya, Sadyarupa and Sadyojata; to Vama, Vamarupa and Vamanetra; to Aghora, Paresha and Vikata. You are Tatpurusha, the protector and ancient Purusha, giver of the purusharthas, keeper of vows, Parameshthi. We bow to Ishana and to Ishvara. You are the brahman and brahman in form, the paramatman himself. To the wicked you are fierce and their controller; to us you are auspicious. You swallowed the kalakuta poison and protected the gods and others. You are Vira, Virabhadra, the trident-bearer who protects the brave, great Mahadeva; we bow to Pashupati. Valour is your atman and you are excellent learning; you are Srikantha, wielder of Pinaka. We bow to the infinite, the subtle, the death of anger, the supreme Paramesha, greater than the greatest, the pervasive, the one whose form is the universe. We bow to Vishnukalatra, Vishnukshetra, Bhanu, Bhairava, Sharanya, Tryambaka and Viharin. You are Mrityunjaya, grief, the three gunas, and the gunas are in your atman. Sun and moon are your eyes. You are the bridge behind every cause, pervading the whole universe with your energy. You are the supreme brahman, unchanging, consciousness, bliss and light.

Maheshvara, all the gods, with Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, the moon and others foremost, and all the sages arise from you. Because you divide the radiance of your body into eight parts you are known as Ashtamurti. You are the original Isha, full of compassion. The wind blows out of fear of you, fire burns out of fear of you, the sun heats out of fear of you, and out of fear of you death rushes everywhere. You are an ocean of compassion; Mahesha, be pleased with us. Parameshvara, save us, as you have always saved us from calamities. We are senseless. Protector, ocean of compassion, you have always guarded us; Shambhu, save us now from fears of many kinds. Quickly show us your favour and save the sacrifice and Daksha Prajapati. Durga's lord, it is incomplete. Restore Bhaga's eyes. Let the sacrificer come back to life. Let Pushan's teeth grow back and Bhrigu's beard be as before. Shankara, the gods and others have had their bodies mangled by weapons and stones; by your favour let them all be well. Protector, you will get a full share. Vasishtha, the sacrificer, will set aside a share of the sacrifice as Rudra's, and this will never be violated.

Brahma said

Having said this, Ramesha with Prajesha joined his hands and lay down like a rod on the ground, begging forgiveness.