They began to gaze at Janardana with those eyes of theirs that were as beautiful and large as the petals of the lotus.  Some of them began to glorify him and some began to worship him with reverence.  Indeed, all of them then hymned the praises of the slayer of Madhu with words whose meanings were adorned with the eternal Riks.  All those ascetics then appointed Narada, that foremost of all persons conversant with speech, to gratify the request of Vasudeva.’

“The ascetics said, ’It behoveth thee, O Narada, to describe, in full, from the beginning, unto Hrishikesa, that wonderful and inconceivable incident which occurred, O puissant one, on the mountains of Himavat and which, O ascetic, was witnessed by those of us that had proceeded thither in course of our pilgrimage to the sacred waters.  Verily, for the benefit of all the Rishis here assembled, it behoveth thee to recite that incident.’  Thus addressed by those ascetics, the celestial Rishi, viz., the divine Narada, then recited the following story whose incidents had occurred some time before.’”

SECTION CXL

“Bhishma said, ’Then Narada, that holy Rishi, that friend of Narayana, recited the following narrative of the discourse between Sankara and his spouse Uma.’

“Narada said, ’Once on a time the righteous-souled lord of all the deities, viz., Mahadeva with the bull for his device, practised severe penances on the sacred mountains of Himavat that are the resort of Siddhas and Charanas.  Those delightful mountains are overgrown with diverse kinds of herbs and adorned with various species of flowers.  At that time they were peopled by the different tribes of Apsaras and crowds of ghostly beings.  There the great god sat, filled with joy, and surrounded by hundreds of ghostly beings who presented diverse aspects to the eye of the beholder.  Some of them were ugly and awkward, some were of very handsome features, and some presented the most wonderful appearances.  Some had faces like the lion’s, some like the tiger’s and some like the elephant’s.  In fact, the faces of those ghostly creatures presented every variety of animal faces.  Some had faces resembling that of the jackal, some whose faces resembled the pard’s; some like the ape’s, some like the bull’s.  Some of them had faces like the owl’s; some like the hawk’s; some had faces like those of deer of diverse varieties.  The great god was also surrounded by Kinnaras and Yakshas and Gandharvas and Rakshasas and diverse other created beings.  The retreat to which Mahadeva had betaken himself also abounded with celestial flowers and blazed with celestial rays of light.  It was perfumed with celestial sandal, and celestial incense was burnt on every side.  And it echoed with the sounds of celestial instruments.  Indeed, it resounded with the beat of Mridangas and Panavas, the blare of conchs, and the sound of drums.  It teemed with ghostly beings of diverse tribes that danced in