“The illustrious Sankara said, ’O dear Upamanyu, I am gratified with thee.  Behold me, O foremost of Munis, O learned Rishi, thou art firmly devoted to me and well hast thou been tested by me.  I have been very highly pleased with thee in consequence of this thy devotion to Siva.  I shall, therefore, give thee today the fruition of whatever desires thou mayst have in thy heart.  Thus addressed by Mahadeva of great wisdom, tears of joy came into my eyes and my hair stood on its end (through emotion).  Kneeling down unto him and bowing unto him repeatedly, I then, with a voice that was choked with delight, said unto him,—­O illustrious god, it seems to me that I was hitherto dead and that it is only today that I have taken my birth, and that my birth bath today borne fruit, since I am staying now in the presence of Him who is the Master of both the deities and the Asuras!  Who else is more praiseworthy than I, since I am beholding with these eyes of mine, Him of immeasurable prowess whom the very deities are unable to behold without first paying hearty worship?  That which they that are possessed of learning and wisdom say is the highest of all topics, which is Eternal, which is distinguished from all else, which is unborn, which is Knowledge, which is indestructible, is identical with thee, O puissant and illustrious one, thee that art the beginning of all the topics, thee that art indestructible and changeless, thee that art conversant with the ordinances which govern all the topics, thee that art the foremost of Purushas, thee that art the highest of the high.  Thou art he that hadst created from thy right side the Grandsire Brahma, the Creator of all things.  Thou art he that hadst created from thy left side Vishnu for protecting the Creation.  Thou art that puissant Lord who didst create Rudra when the end of the Yuga came and when the Creation was once more to be dissolved.  That Rudra, who sprang from thee destroyed the Creation with all its mobile and immobile beings, assuming the form of Kala of great energy, of the cloud Samvartaka (charged with water which myriads of oceans are not capacious enough to bear), and of the all consuming fire.  Verily, when the period comes for the dissolution of the universe, that Rudra stands, ready to swallow up the universe.  Thou art that Mahadeva, who is the original Creator of the universe with all its mobile and immobile entities.  Thou art he, who, at the end of the Kalpa, stands, withdrawing all things into thyself.  Thou art he that pervadest all things, that art the Soul of all things, thou art the Creator of the Creator of all entities.  Incapable of being seen by even any of the deities, thou art he that exists, pervading all entities.  If, O lord, thou hast been gratified with me and if thou wouldst grant me boons, let this be the boon, O Lord of all the deities, that my devotion to thee may remain unchanged.  O best of the deities, let me, through thy grace, have knowledge of the Present, the Past, and the Future.  I shall also, with all my kinsmen and friends, always eat food mixed with milk.  And let thy illustrious self be for ever present at our retreat.—­Thus addressed by me, the illustrious Maheswara endued with supreme energy, that Master of all mobile and immobile, viz., Siva, worshipped of all the universe, then said unto me these words.’