Verse 20

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 20:

ध्यायेन्मेषाधिरूढम् नवतपननिभं वेदबाहूज्ज्वलाङ्गं
  तत्क्रोडे रुद्रमूर्तिर्निवसति सततं सुद्धसिन्दूररागः ।
भस्मालिप्ताङ्गभूषाभरणसितवपुर्वृद्धारूपी त्रिणेत्रो
  लोकानामिष्टदाताभयलसितकरः सृष्टिसंहारकरी ॥ २० ॥

dhyāyenmeṣādhirūḍham navatapananibhaṃ vedabāhūjjvalāṅgaṃ
  tatkroḍe rudramūrtirnivasati satataṃ suddhasindūrarāgaḥ |
bhasmāliptāṅgabhūṣābharaṇasitavapurvṛddhārūpī triṇetro
  lokānāmiṣṭadātābhayalasitakaraḥ sṛṣṭisaṃhārakarī || 20 ||

Meditate upon Him (Fire) seated on a ram, four-armed, radiant like the rising Sun. In His lap ever dwells Rudra, who is of a pure vermilion hue. He (Rudra) is white with the ashes with which He is smeared; of an ancient aspect and three-eyed, His hands are placed in the attitude of granting boons and of dispelling fear.^[1] He is the destroyer of creation.

Commentary by Śrī-Kālīcaraṇa:

Elsewhere the Dhyāna of Vahni is as follows: “Seated on a ram, a Rudrākṣa rosary in one hand, and the Śakti^[2] in the other.”

As there are no weapons placed in the other hands it is to be inferred that the other two hands are in the attitude of granting boons and of dispelling fear; that is how He is described to be in other Dhyānas of Him.

Rudra should here be meditated upon as seated on a bull.

“He is white... smeared” (Bhasmāliptāṅga-bhūṣābharaṇa-sita-vapus [vapuḥ]).—The ashes with which his body is smeared and the ornaments he is wearing make him look white (though his hue is red).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

That is, making Vara and Abhaya-Mudrās.

[2]:

Vahni’s or Fire’s weapon. Bhāskararāya says it is the weapon which is called in Maharāṣṭra Śāmti.