a sight of him. O thou of immeasurable prowess, I
see with my spiritual eyes that thou wilt, in the sixth month from this,
succeed in obtaining a sight of Mahadeva, O best of all persons. Thou, O
foremost of the Yadus, wilt obtain from Maheswara and his spouse, four
and twenty boons. I tell thee what is true. Through the grace of that
Deity endued with supreme wisdom, the Past, the Future and the Present
are known to me. The great Hara has favoured these Rishis numbering by
thousands and others as numerous. Why will not the puissant Deity show
favour to thee, O Mahadeva? The meeting of the gods is always commendable
with one like thee, with one that is devoted to the Brahmanas, with one
that is full of compassion and that is full of faith. I shall give thee
certain Mantras. Recite them continuously. By this thou art certain to
behold Sankara.'"

"'The blessed Vishnu continued, "I then said unto him, 'O regenerate one,
through thy grace, O great ascetic, I shall behold the lord of the
deities, that grinder of multitudes of Diti's sons.' Eight days, O
Bharata, passed there like an hour, all of us being thus occupied with
talk on Mahadeva. On the eighth day, I underwent the Diksha (initiation)
according to due rites, at the hands of that Brahmana and received the
staff from his hands. I underwent the prescribed shave. I took up a
quantity of Kusa blades in my hand. I wore rags for my vestments. I
rubbed my person with ghee. I encircled a cord of Munja grass round my
loins. For one month I lived on fruits. The second month I subsisted upon
water. The third, the fourth and the fifth months I passed, living upon
air alone. I stood all the while, supporting myself upon one foot and
with my arms also raised upwards, and foregoing sleep all the while. I
then beheld, O Bharata, in the firmament an effulgence that seemed to be
as dazzling as that of a thousand Suns combined together. Towards the
centre of that effulgence, O son of Pandu, I saw a cloud looking like a
mass of blue hills, adorned with rows of cranes, embellished with many a
grand rainbow, with flashes of lightning and the thunder-fire looking
like eyes set on it.[68] Within that cloud was the puissant Mahadeva.
himself of dazzling splendour, accompanied by his spouse Uma. Verily, the
great Deity seemed to shine with his penances, energy, beauty,
effulgence, and his dear spouse by his side. The puissant Maheswara, with
his spouse by his side, shone in the midst of that