Terrified of the Halahala poison that emerged during the churning of the ocean, all the Devatas and Prajapatis offered obeisance to Lord Śiva and prayed to him,

“Deva-deva mahā-deva bhūtātman bhūta-bhāvana trāhi naḥ śaraṇāpannāṁs trailokya-dahanād viṣāt

O Mahadeva! You are the Lord of all Lords! You are the creator of all living entities. You are the form of the Self for all living entities. O Lord we seek refuge in You. Please save us from this terrible poison which is about to consume all the three planes of existence.

You are the Lord for the bondage as well as for liberation. You are the father who dispels grief of those who seek refuge in You. You are the cause for everything, O Lord. Wise, intelligent persons worship You as Guru. O self-effulgent Lord, You are Parabrahma. Using Your illusionary energy which is coupled with the three attributes, You create, sustain and annihilate the universe assuming forms known as Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra.

Tvaṁ brahma paramaṁ guhyaṁ sad-asad-bhāva-bhāvanah Nānā-śaktibhir ābhātas tvam ātmā jagad-īśvaraḥ

You are the utmost secretive Supreme Lord (Parabrahma). You are the Lord who has created the most worthy, auspicious Devatas and other living beings as well as the unworthy, sorrowful entities such as plants and germs. You are the cause for the existence of this universe consisting of animate and inanimate objects.

Using Your three-fold energy known as goodness, passion and ignorance (trigunas), You have manifested as this universe. You are the Self for everyone. You are the Lord of all universes. O Lord, Vedas have emerged from You alone. You are the cause for this entire creation.

The traits of goodness, passion and ignorance, which are responsible for the life-force (prāṇa), senses and five elements (dravya) that exist within the living entities, are nothing but Your Nature. You who are the embodiment of time, manifest in the form of sacrificial Yagnas. You are the inherent original essence behind this universe which is filled with names and forms. You are the destiny (niyati) and righteousness (dharma) of this world. Mahatmas declare that You are the Lord of this indestructible Nature (prakṛti) which consists of three divisions called goodness, passion and ignorance.

O Lord, all these worlds have emerged from You alone. Mahatmas declare that to You, who are the embodiment of all Devatas, Fire-god is Your mouth; Earth is Your lotus feet; eternal time is Your movement; directions are Your ears and Varuna, the Lord of water, is Your tongue.

O Supreme Lord, space is Your navel. Wind is Your breath. Sun-god is Your eye. Water is Your semen. You are the supreme consciousness for all living entities including supreme Mahatmas. Moon-god is Your mind. Heavens are Your head.

O personification of Vedas! The oceans are Your stomach. Mountains are Your bones. All the trees, plants and creepers are the hair on Your body. Gayatri and the other 6 chandas are Your 7 body basic building elements (dhatu) known as plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone marrow and reproductive tissue. Righteousness is Your heart.

O Lord, the mantra ‘Sadyojātaṃ prapadyāmi’ is Your Sadyojata face; ‘tatpuruṣāya vidmahē’ is Your Tatpuruṣa face; ‘Vāmadevāya namaḥ’ is Your Vāmadeva face; ‘Aghōrebhyo’ is Your Aghora face and ‘Iṣāṇa sarva vidyānām’ is Your Ishāna face. When these mantras are segregated, thirty-eight special Vedic mantras appear.

O Lord, the supreme object has been referred to as Śiva by the Upanishads. You being situated in Your Self-effulgence is the Absolute Truth.

O Lord, Your shadow exists in the waves of unrighteousness such as greed, lust and other desires. The three attributes of Nature, which are the primary cause of creation, are Your three eyes. The ancient Vedas which are replete with Gayatri and other verses are Your form. Vedas originated due to Your divine will.

O Lord of Mount Kailasa! In your inherent Self-effulgence, which is beyond this creation, the three attributes of Nature do not exist. In Your form which is beyond the limitations of place and time, differences and dualities do not exist. Even Lord Brahma, the Guardian-deities, Lord Indra and the inhabitants of Vaikunṭha fail to understand Your original form. In the past You destroyed Kāma (the lord of desires), Daksha’s Yagna, the Tripurasura demons, Kālakūṭa poison and many such impediments that were harming the living entities, O Lord. You have saved the creation many a times O Lord. You are the Lord of all planets and hence You are their protector. Such praises are very trivial in Your case, O Lord. No matter how much You are praised, it always falls short.

O Lord, You have created this universe. During period of annihilation, from the sparks that emerge from Your fiery eyes, this creation is reduced to dust. However O Lord, You remain unaware of this destruction. Mahatmas who are immersed in the Self’s bliss and who propagate knowledge eternally retain Your lotus feet in their heart and meditate upon them.

O Lord You are eternally engaged in meditation. Nevertheless, some people mistakenly misunderstand that You are eternally wandering, enjoying the company of your wife Mother Parvati. At times, they wrongly accuse that You cruelly wander in crematoriums. The foolish, who make such nasty comments about You, O Lord, are definitely are unaware of Your transcendental nature”.

Vāmadevaya namah