Chapter 10 - The greatness of the consort of Umā

Sanatkumāra said:

1. O lord Nandikeśvara, O devotee of Bhava of great intelligence, recount to me once again, the greatness of the consort of Umā.

Śailādi said:

2. O Sanakumāra, I shall briefly mention to you the greatness of Maheśa, Bhava, Parameṣṭhin.

3-6. He has no binding attachment with Prakṛti, cosmic intellect, cosmic ego, mind, will, ears, skin, eyes, tongue, nose, foot, hand, speech, the organ of generation or the five subtle elements. As he is eternally pure by nature he is eternally enlightened.

7-12a. He is mentioned as eternally liberated, by the sages who know the principles. At the behest of Siva Parameṣṭhin who has no beginning, middle or end as well as that of Puruṣa, Prakṛti gives birth to cosmic Intellect.

At the behest of the self-born lord who is well known in all bodies as the Antaryāmin (the immanent soul), its intellect gives birth to cosmic ego. At the behest of lord Śiva, ego gives birth to the eleven sense-organs and the subtle elements. At the behest of the intelligent lord the subtle elements give birth to the gross elements entirely. At the behest of Śiva all the elements bring about the contact with the bodies in the case of the embodied beings from Brahmā to the blades of grass. At the behest of that lord, intellect ponders upon all objects.

13b-20. Prosperity, power and riches are achieved by the lord naturally. It is at his behest that the ego takes pride in all objects; the mind becomes conscious of the objects and thinks. It is on account of his power that the ear perceives sound, the body feels touch. Thanks to the power of command of Śiva, Bhava, Parameṣṭhin that the organ of speech utters words and does not take up things from the physical body. The hand does the work of taking up and never that of motion, etc. in respect to all creatures, at the control of the creator. It is due to the behest of Śiva that the foot does the work of movement and not that of excretion. At the behest of supreme lord, the rectum does the work of excretion and not that of speech. The organ of generation generates at the instance of of the lord. It is due to the behest of the lord that it causes pleasure to all living beings.

21. It is due to the bidding of great lord that the ether yields sufficient space always.

22. It is due to the directive from Śiva that the wind sustains the bodies of all living beings through its divisions such as Prāṇa, etc.

23. At the directive from the lord of Devas, the atmospheric wind having seven skandhas^[1] carries out worldly activities by means of its subdivisions, viz. Āvaha,^[2] etc.

24. Due to the advice of the great lord the wind functions within our bodies by means of its five-fold divisions Nāga,^[3] etc.

25-27. At the behest of the lord, the fire carries Havya to Devas, and Kavya^[4] to the pitṛs. Moreover, it carries out cooking also. The fire that is within the belly digests the food taken in by the embodied beings. This it does at the behest -of the lord of the universe. At his behest the waters enliven the living beings. His behest which is very weighty cannot be transgressed.

28. At the behest of that lord of Devas Indra sustains all living beings consisting of the mobile and immobile.

29. Lord Viṣṇu sustains the worlds by warding off the pain of those alive and of the dead from hundreds of tortures (in hell). His order cannot be transgressed.

30. At the bidding of the lord, Viṣṇu protects Devas and destroys Asuras. He is stationed in all the three worlds and he destroys all unrighteous persons.

31. At his behest, Varuṇa sustains the worlds through water. At his behest, he submerges them. He binds Asuras by means of his bonds.

32. At his bidding Kubera, the lord of riches, offers wealth to the living beings in accordance with their merit.

33. At the behest of the eternal, truthful great Ātman, the sun marks time by causing sunrise and sunset.

34. At the behest of the lord the destroyer of Death, the moon that has nectarine rays and holds all digits delights people and makes the flowers and herbs flourish.

35. The Adityas, Vasus, Rudras Aśvins, Maruts and all other Devas have been created at his bidding.

36. The Gandharvas, Devas, Siddhas, Sādhyas, Cāraṇas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas and Piśācas, all abide by the behests of the lord.

37. The planets, stars, constellations, sacrifices, Vedas, austerities and sages abide by his bidding.

38. The manes pitṛs, seven oceans, seven mountains, seven rivers, forests and lakes abide by his bidding.

39. The various units of time, such as Kalās, Kāṣṭhās, Nimeṣas, Muhūrtas, days, nights, seasons years, fortnights and months are stabilised at his behest.

40-41. Yugas and manvantaras abide by his behest. The Para, Parārdha and the other units of time, eight species of Devas, five species of the lower animals and human beings, all function because of the intelligent lord of Devas (i. e. Śiva).

42. The living beings born of the fourteen wombs and living in all the worlds abide by his bidding alone.

43-45. The subjects born and stationed in the fourteen worlds abide by the bidding of the lord. The nether and the upper worlds with their coverings and the rest of the current worlds surrounded by all living beings abide by his bidding.

46-47. The innumerable past universes functioned at his behest along with all their beings. The future universe too will carry out his behest along with all their entourage.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

sapta-skandha—seven branches or seven divisions.

[2]:

āvaha, etc. seven courses of wind one above the other: They are (i) āvaha, (ii) pravaha, (iii) saṃvaha, (iv) udvaha, (v) vivaha, (vi) parivaha and (vii) parāvaha.

[3]:

nāga—five vital airs, of which five kinds are enumerated.

[4]:

havya-kavya—oblations to the gods and to the manes or spirits of deceased ancestors—MS. 1. 94; 3. 97, 128; et seq.