hich is Knowledge, which is indestructible,
is identical with thee, O puissant and illustrious one, thee that art the
beginning of all the topics, thee that art indestructible and changeless,
thee that art conversant with the ordinances which govern all the topics,
thee that art the foremost of Purushas, thee that art the highest of the
high. Thou art he that hadst created from thy right side the Grandsire
Brahma, the Creator of all things. Thou art he that hadst created from
thy left side Vishnu for protecting the Creation. Thou art that puissant
Lord who didst create Rudra when the end of the Yuga came and when the
Creation was once more to be dissolved. That Rudra, who sprang from thee
destroyed the Creation with all its mobile and immobile beings, assuming
the form of Kala of great energy, of the cloud Samvartaka (charged with
water which myriads of oceans are not capacious enough to bear), and of
the all consuming fire. Verily, when the period comes for the dissolution
of the universe, that Rudra stands, ready to swallow up the universe.
Thou art that Mahadeva, who is the original Creator of the universe with
all its mobile and immobile entities. Thou art he, who, at the end of the
Kalpa, stands, withdrawing all things into thyself. Thou art he that
pervadest all things, that art the Soul of all things, thou art the
Creator of the Creator of all entities. Incapable of being seen by even
any of the deities, thou art he that exists, pervading all entities. If,
O lord, thou hast been gratified with me and if thou wouldst grant me
boons, let this be the boon, O Lord of all the deities, that my devotion
to thee may remain unchanged. O best of the deities, let me, through thy
grace, have knowledge of the Present, the Past, and the Future. I shall
also, with all my kinsmen and friends, always eat food mixed with milk.
And let thy illustrious self be for ever present at our retreat."--Thus
addressed by me, the illustrious Maheswara endued with supreme energy,
that Master of all mobile and immobile, viz., Siva, worshipped of all the
universe, then said unto me these words.'

"'"'The illustrious Deity said, "Be thou free from every misery and pain,
and be thou above decrepitude and death. Be thou possessed of fame, be
thou endued with great energy, and let spiritual knowledge be thine. Thou
shalt, through my grace, be always sought for by the Rishis. Be thy
behaviour good and righteous, be every desirable attribute thine, be t