t is said here is that Mahadeva is the Pratyag Soul free
from ignorance.

96. By Niyama is meant purity both internal and external, contentedness,
with whatever is got, penances, Vedic studies, meditation on the Deity,
etc.

97. Nidhi implies the largest number that can be named in Arithmetical
notation. Hence, it implies, as the commentator correctly explains, the
possessor of inexhaustible felicity and gladness.

98. Sahasraksha is either Indra or possessor of innumerable eyes in
consequence of Mahadeva's being identical with the universe. Visalaksha
is one whose eyes are of vast power, because the Past and the Future are
seen by them even as the Present. Soma implies either the Moon or the
juice of the Soma i.e. the libations poured in the sacrificial fire. All
righteous persons, again, become luminaries in the firmament. It is
Mahadeva that makes them so i.e., he is the giver of glorious forms to
those that deserve them.

99. Many of these names require comments to be intelligible. Ketu is no
plant but Hindu astronomers name the descending node of the Moon by that
name. Hence Rahu is the ascending node of the Moon. Graha, is that which
seizes; Grahapati is Mangala, so called for its malevolence, Varah is
Vrihaspati or Jupiter, who is the counterself of Sukra or Venus. In Hindu
mythology, Sukra is a male person, the preceptor of the Daityas and
Asuras. Atri is Vudha or Mercury, represented as the sons of Atri.
Atryahnamaskarta is Durvasas who was the son of Atri's wife, got by the
lady through a boon of Mahadeva. Daksha's Sacrifice sought to fly away
from Siva, but the latter pursued it and shot his arrow at it for
destroying it downright.

100. Suvarna-retas is explained by the commentator as follows: At first
he created water and then cast his seed into it. That seed became a
golden egg. It may also mean that Mahadeva is Agni or the deity of fire,
for gold represents the seed of Agni.

101. The sense is this: Jiva carries that seed of acts, i.e., Ignorance
and Desire, with him. In consequence of this seed, Jiva travels from one
world into another ceaselessly. This seed, therefore, is the conveyance
or the means of locomotion of Jiva. Mahadeva is Jiva. The soul is called
the rider, and the body is the car that bears the Soul on it.

102. Ganapati is Ganesa, the eldest son of Mahadeva. The Ganas are mighty
beings that wait upon Mahadeva. This make up the first hundred names. The
commentator takes Avala and Ga