the command of Pashupati, that Lord of all creatures, I am ready to
become a worm or a tree with many branches. If not obtained through the
grace represented by Mahadeva's boons, the very sovereignty of the three
worlds would not be acceptable to me. Let me be born among the very
Chandalas but let me still be devoted to the feet of Hara. Without,
again, being devoted to that Lord of all creatures, I would not like to
have birth in the palace of Indra himself. If a person be wanting in
devotion to that Lord of the universe,--that Master of the deities and
the Asuras,--his misery will not end even if from want of food he has to
subsist upon only air and water.[47] What is the need of other discourses
that are even fraught with other kinds of morality and righteousness,
unto those persons who do not like to live even a moment without thinking
of feet of Mahadeva? When the unrighteous or sinful Kali Yuga comes, one
should never pass a moment without devoting his heart upon Mahadeva. One
that has drunk the Amrita constituted by the devotion to Hara, one
becomes freed from the fear of the world. One that has not obtained the
grace of Mahadeva can never succeed to devote oneself to Mahadeva for a
single day or for half a day or for a Muhurta or for a Kshana or for a
Lava (very small unit of time). At the command of Mahadeva I shall
cheerfully become a worm or an insect, but I have no relish for even the
sovereignty of the three worlds, if bestowed by thee, O Sakra. At the
word of Hara I would become even a dog. In fact, that would accord with
my highest wish. If not given by Maheswara, I would not have the
sovereignty of the very deities. I do not wish to have this dominion of
the Heavens. I do not wish to have the sovereignty of the celestials. I
do not wish to have the region of Brahma. Indeed, I do not wish to have
that cessation of individual existence which is called Emancipation and
which involves a complete identification with Brahma. But I want to
become the slave of Hara. As long as that Lord of all creatures, the
illustrious Mahesa, with crown on his head and body possessed of the pure
white complexion of the lunar disc, does not become gratified with me, so
long shall I cheerfully bear all those afflictions, due to a hundred
repetitions of decrepitude, death and birth, that befall to the lot of
embodied beings. What person in the universe can obtain tranquillity,
without gratifying Rudra that is freed from decripitude