mm Siva The Dance of Siva in the Sky Alter speaking to the ys, the Bssed supreme lord began to dance, reveling his supel divine nature, The wis witnessed the lord Mahidev, theultimate abode of splendor, dancing with Vin inthe cludes sky. They saw that lord of cates who is relly known oly by tose ys who have mastered the principles cof Yoga, The brahmins watched the dance ofthe universal sol himsel, the god who impels the word and who ste source of the univers iluion, Iwas inded the lord of creatures whom they saw dancing, at th recllction of whos tus fet one loses al fearborn of ignorance. They witnessed that Yogin whom yogis behold as light, those meditators who are always alert and serene, who have mastered thirbreath and are fled with devotion. The rahmin saw Rudra dancinginthe sky, that supreme liberator who instantly releases peopl om thi jgnorance, who sknd and benevolent his eves, the go wih thousand heads, a thou- sand feet thowand arms and forms, with mated bar, he crown of his head adored wih the cescent moon, tte ina igerstn holding a tren in his huge Rand, bearing a staf, with the sun, soon and ie as his splendor. He was eile to bel, with aping mouth, projecting fangs, lazing forth ike ten ilo sus, sanding at the same time both inside and ouside the eg, ening the in- candescnt ir tht burs the whole world tthe end of ime. Thus the ys beheld the dance ofthe lord god who fashioned the universe... “Well worship you, sole od, primordial person ord of breath, Rudra whose Yoga steal, who resides in ourhearts, races the Purif, who consis of Brahma, Sages who are cl and serene, who have meitatd onthe immovable Sel within thir bodies, see You to be the immaculate womb of Brahman, golden in hue, the supreme see, higher than the mest hgh and tha whichis beyond From you has come fr the progenerix ofthe word, You ae the Self ofl You eth tom, smaller than the small an greater than the get. Thus dothewisesay that you are everthing “ianyagarth, the Golden Embryo that is the inner Selo he world, hasbeen born fom you. At bith the primordial person emanated from you. The creator ofthe univers fashion he uiverse according to your ordinance, You have originated al the Vedas and they wl odge in you a the end. We behold you dancing, source of the word lodged in our own hears! By you dos this whel of Brahma tur, You, sole guardian of he wer, are filed with Maya, TheSepsf Pini 28 ‘We take refuge in you! We adore you! You are the soul of Yoga, the master of consciousness who dances the divine dance! “When we rc your lotus feet, the seeds fou rebirth are uty destroyed. With minds retained and bodies prostate, we seek your favor, solelord, Hail to Bhava, the source of existence to Time, t ll, to Hara, to you! Praise be to Rudra, to Kapardin, to you! Gory be to Fire, O god! Praise be to Siva!” ‘After ths hymn, te lord god Kaparcin, Bava, who ids the bul, returned to his normal state, The Sages of the Pine Forest There is a beautiful Pine Fret where certain vituous sages, always loyal to Siva, used to occupy themselves continually with mediation nim, Those lords of ers performed worship to iva tre times day and praised him continuously with all kinds of divine hymns. (Once upon a time all those chief bra devotees of Siva, intent ‘upon meditation on Siva, went into the forest to gather ful, Mean- ‘wile Sankara adopted a misshapen body inorder to test them and appeared there colored blue and red. Uiery resplendent in ap- pearance, he was naked and decked out in ornamental ashes. Hold- ing his penis in his hand he made lewd gestures. Thus Hara himself ‘went tothe forest in an affectionate mood, thinking to doa favor to his devotees who lived there, and with whom he was well pleased. When they saw him, some ofthe wives of the sages were terrified. But others, amazed and excited, sought to approach hin. While some ofthe women embraced him and others grasped his hand, they ost themselves in rivalry with one another. At this moment the eminent seers retuned. When they beheld this revolting person, they were upset and overcome with anger. Much aggrieved, all the sages, fooled by Siva’s trick, cried out, “Whois this? Who is this?” ‘When that pure, naked man said nothing at all, the noble seers spoke to that teil apparition, “Your behaviors disgusting! You are ruining the way ofthe Veda! Therefore tat pens of yours shall fllto the ground!” ‘When they sid ths, the ing ofthe pure Sivas supernatural body falloff at one, Blazing like fie, that penis, or lng, burned up everything in its way. Wherever it went itburned things down, Siva’s fiery linge went tothe netherworld and to heaven. It traveled throughout the world but nowhere did it come to rest The worldsam Siva grew troubled and the sages unhappy. No one could find shelter, neither gods nr ser. ‘All the gods and seers, not recogniaing Siva, were miserable. They assembled and quickly went together to Baha for refuge. When they arrived the brahmins honored and hymned Brahma the creator and told him all that happened, When he heard what they said, he recognized that they had been deluded by Siva’ ison, Worship- ping Sankara, he sad to the excellent seers: “Q brahmins, you are wise but you have dane a contemptible thing, you who are so ctcal when the ignorant act this way! Who «can hope for his own well-being after obstructing the god Siva? One who does not welome a guest in the middle ofthe day has his ood farm taken away, and after leaving to that man his own ex Jaman, te gust departs, How much worse, the, iit to deny hos- pitality to Siva! “As Jong as Siva’ linge roams the thre world there willbe no prosperity. This isthe truth I speak You should do whatever is necesito pacity Siva’s penis, O sages, consider carefully whatis to be done. Ths adresse, theses bowed to rah ands, "What shall we do, lord? Show us our duty!” After these lords of sers had spoken, Brahm, grandfather ofall the world, himselfaddessed the seers: "Go and worship the mountain-bom goddess, You must placate Siva! When she assumes the form ofa vulva the penis wll be- come cam, Listen to the rue tell you now. Ifyou tether with af- fection, she willbe agreeable. "Puta jar filed with water fom a sacred ford, dirow grass and burly in the center ofa splendid eght-petalled diagram. Cast spell on te ar with Vedicmuntas, doing worship according tothe rules of rut, and while reollectng Siva, Anoint the liga with that water, 0 supreme seers. When itis consecrated with Satarudtiya mantras, it willcomeat last torest, After putting in place the mountain gin the form of yon place the blessed shaft on topofitand once more asta spell nit. Popitiate the supreme lord with perumes, sandal wood, flowers and incense and with the pi’ of food and other good. Placte im with prostratons, hymns, holy songs and instrument. Then perform thestustyyana ceremony for godspeed and cr out: "Victory! Be gracios, lord of gods who brings happines tothe word! You are the creator, protector, and destroyer who is beyond ‘OM. You are the beginning ofthe world, the womb ofthe world, the interior ofthe world. Be at peace, great lord Protect ll the worlds!” “When you follow this procedure, well-being wil return tothe world, without a doubt. The three worlds will not decay and felicity - wil preva, Afr grating the daughter of the mountain and Brahm, Vig, and he Linge of Sw 205, also the on whose banner bears the bull bythe preceding rule, the supreme tga willbe brought torest.” ‘After this the gods and sages propitated the mountain bom gr and Siva according to the injunction dictated by the mants for the sake of Dharma. When the penis was pace, prosperity tuned to the word, O ‘brahmins, and that linga became famous in the three worlds as Hataksema, or Sivi-Siva. Because the ing is worshiped, happiness aboundsin the tile world in every way, Brahma, Visnu and the Linga of Siva Lord Vignu spoke: Long ago, when everything animate and inanimate was lost in that one awful ocean, Siva himself appeared in order to awaken Brahma and myself. There was only this dreadful undifferentiated ocean mae up of darkness inthe midst of which mse, with one thousand heads, one thousand eyes, one thousand feet and one thousand arms, ly sleeping, sel-controlled, bearing conch, discus and mace. Meanwhile [saw ata distance a go of boundless light, shining like ten milion suns, cle by liter, the four‘faced god whose Yoga is great, the person of golden color, wearing a back antelope skin, the god who is hymned with Rg, Yajur and Sima Vedas. In the twinkling of an eye, glorious Brahm himself, choicest of those who know Yoga, came to me and smiled ashe spoke. "Who are you? Why are you here? For what reason are you staying here? Tell me, O lord! For I am the creator ofthe words, the sel-xistent, the seat grandfather,” Thus addressed by Brahma I replied, "sl who ‘am creator and destroyer of these worlds time and time again” Wile the argument was going on like this there appeared by the illusion ofthe supreme god a matchless liga whose self was Siva dlsplayed for awakening. It was bright as the fir of Doomsday, vreathed with garlands of flame, free ftom growth and dea, without begining, middle or end. Then te unborn one, the lord, said to me, “Go quickly downwards; wil go upwards, Let us dis ‘cover the limits ofthis.” Having made this agreement, the two of us—myself and the Grandfther—went quickly upwards and downwards, but for 26 Siva hundred yeas could find no end fo it, Amazed and frightened, confused bythe llusion ofthe god who caries tient, we call to rind the perfect lord, Pronouncng the great sound OM, the transcendent sylable, bowing with our hands folded we praise the matchless Sambhu, Being so praised the supreme lord became manifest; the great Yogin shone forth brliant as ten milion suns. ‘Appearing to devour the sky with his hundred milion mouths, he displayed a thousand hands and fet; sun, maon and fie were his jes He stod therewith bow in hand, carrying a tient, wearing a fier skin garment, his sated thread a snake, making a sound like a ‘ettedrum of duds Thus spoke the great god, Iam pleased with you both, O best of the god. Now se that! am the greatest god and fear no more! Ages ago the two of you eternal ones were produced from my limbs Brahma, Grandfather ofthe words es in my ight side. Viggu, the protector, dvls in my let. And Hara i bor in my heat Lam entirely said wl gv to you bth whatever you desi.” Having said this, the god Siva, Mahidera himself, indined towards benevolence, embraced Brahm and me, Then Naryana and the Grandfather were very pleased of heart, They prostrated themselves before the great ord when they saw his fae. “fyouare pleased with us, and if a boon isto be granted, then let us be constantly devoted to you, O god, the greatest lor!” The Skull-Bearer Long ago the whole word with is stationary and mobile creatures ‘was one vast ocean. Sunk in that utter darkness, awful to behold, were the mountains and trees. Sun, moon and stars were lst init, as were fire and wind, It was undifferentiated, unfathomable, void of being and non-being alk, The lr ay sleeping in this sea fora thousand yas. Atte endof his night, he assumed a form made of nas and poured forth the worlds, This form had five faces and was wonderful to see, wise in the Vedas and Vedangas, the creator of the world with its moving and unmovig beings. Another form also appeared, made ofr. It had thre eyes, cried a trident, wore mated hair and displayed prayer beads, Then the great-souled one emited the dreadful charakra, or egotism, which overcame the two gods Brahmé and San- ara, TheStul-Berer 207 ar, wrapped nepotism, sad othe Grandfather, "Who are you ‘who have come here? Tell me who sent you!” And the Grandfather replied also out of egotism, “Who ar you? Who are your father and smother? Tell me this!” In such a way di Brahma and Is argue long ago. And from this quatel were you born, Narada, beloved of he Kali Age. And as soon as you were born you rose up into the sky carrying a peerless lute and making joyful musi. Sambhu stood fll of disdain before the lotus-born Brahma, whose downcast face nent to Sambhu’s looked lke the moon eclipsed bythe plane When the master ofthe worlds had thus been surpassed by the lord god Paramesthin, his fifth face, dark with rage, said to Ruca, asset, thre-eyed one, that you consist of ts, that you are naked, clad in space, that you ride a bull and that you are the destroyer ofthe worlds!” Thus addressed, the angry Sankara, the unborn lord, fixed that face with an evil eye, longing to burn it up with ire. Then the three- eyed god displayed fv faces of is own. They were whit, ed, shiny ‘gold, dark blue and bright yellow. When the fifth head of the Grandfather beheld these faces, each equal to the su, i spoke up, “When wateris sted upit produces bubbles. So what?” ‘The great-souled Sankara was infuriated at tis, so he cut off that ‘coarse-mouthed head of Brahma with the tip of his fingernail. When it was severed, that skull fll onto the palm of Sankara's left hand, where itstuck ast, ‘Then the blessed blue and red lord with knotted hair emitted from himself Kalabhairava to hold the skull of Brahma. “You will perform penance,” he said, “in order to destroy evil and benefit creation. As my agent, you shal go begging throughout the word, skulin hand,” ‘So speaking, he also sent out a young maiden, wreathed in flame, called Brahmahatyé or Brahmin-Murder, with gaping mouth and Projecting fangs. “Hrible woman,” he sid, “flow the tne-eyed god untl he reaches the divine ty of Varanasi to expiate this crime,” So speaking, the god Mahesvara also addressed Bhairava, the Fire of Time, “Roam the whole world for alms as I command. Seek out ‘Narayana, the lord of the gods, free from flaws, who will make plain toyou the means of removing your gui." Alter lord Hara, the universal soul, had heard the words of the deity of deities, he traveled around the three worlds withthe skull on his hand. Assuming a misshapen body, radiant with splendor, wise and matchless in purity, crowned with a pile of twisted hair, sur- rounded by arrogant Pramas, shining like ten milion of suns, ‘Mahadeva blazed forth with his eye that isthe Fire of Time, After