aughs and sometimes sings and sometimes dances most
beautifully. Surrounded by innumerable spirits and ghosts, he sometimes
plays on musical instruments. Diverse, again are the instruments upon
which he plays, and sweet the sounds they yield. He sometimes wanders
(over crematoria), sometimes yawns, sometimes cries, and sometimes causes
others to cry. He sometimes assumes the guise of one that is mad, and
sometimes of one that is intoxicated, and he sometimes utters words that
are exceedingly sweet. Endued with appalling fierceness, he sometimes
laughs loudly, frightening all creatures with his eyes. He sometimes
sleeps and sometimes remains awake and sometimes yawns as he pleases. He
sometimes recites sacred Mantras and sometimes becomes the deity of those
Mantras which are recited. He sometimes performs penances and sometimes
becomes the deity for whose adoration those penances are undergone. He
sometimes makes gifts and sometimes receives those gifts; sometimes
disposes himself in Yoga and sometimes becomes the object of the Yoga
contemplation of others. He may be seen on the sacrificial platform or in
the sacrificial stake; in the midst of the cow-pen or in the fire. He may
not again be seen there. He may be seen as a boy or as an old man. He
sports with the daughters and the spouses of the Rishis. His hair is long
and stands erect. He is perfectly naked, for he has the horizon for his
garments. He is endued with terrible eyes. He is fair, he is darkish, he
is dark, he is pale, he is of the colour of smoke, and he is red. He is
possessed of eyes that are large and terrible. He has empty space for his
covering and he it is that covers all things. Who is there that can truly
understand the limits of Mahadeva who is formless, who is one and
indivisible, who conjures of illusions, who is of the cause of all
actions and destructive operations in the universe, who assumes the form
of Hiranyagarbha, and who is without beginning and without end, and who
is without birth.[45] He lives in the heart (of every creature). He is
the prana, he is the mind, and he is Jiva (that is invested in the
material case). He is the soul of Yoga, and it is that is called Yoga. He
is the Yoga-contemplation into which Yogins enter.[46] He is the Supreme
Soul. Indeed Maheswara, the purity in essence, is capable of being
comprehended not by the senses but through only the Soul seizing his
existence. He plays on diverse musical instruments. He is a vo