The Great Epic of the Bhārata dynasty 13.14.85

13.14.85

jananyāstadvacaḥ śrutvā tadāprabhṛti śatruhan |
mama bhaktirmahādeve naiṣṭhikī samapadyata || 85 ||

Do thou devote thyself, O dear son, to Sankara with thy whole soul. Through his grace, O child, thou art sure to obtain all such objects as administer to the indulgence of all thy wishes,--Hearing these words of my mother, O slayer of foes, that day, I joined my hands in reverence and bowing unto her, said,--O mother, who this Mahadeva? In what manner can one gratify him? Where does that god reside? How may he be seen? With what does he become pleased? What also is the form of Sarva? How may one succeed in obtaining a knowledge of him? If gratified, will he, O mother, show himself unto me?--After I had said these words, O Krishna, to my mother, she, filled with parental affection, smelt my head, O Govinda, her eyes covered with tears the while. Gently patting my body, O slayer of Madhu, my mother, adopting a tone of great humility, addressed me in the following words, O best of the deities.'

He has a hundred thousand eyes, he has one mouth, he has two mouths, he has three mouths, and he has many mouths. Devoting thyself to him, setting thy heart upon him, depending upon him, and accepting him as thy one refuse, do thou, O son, adore Mahadeva and then mayst thou obtain the fruition of all thy wishes. Hearing those words of my mother, O slayer of foes, from that day my devotion was directed to Mahadeva, having nothing else for its object. I then applied myself to the practice of the austerest penances for gratifying Sankara. For one thousand years I stood on my left toe. After that I passed one thousand years, subsisting only upon fruits. The next one thousand years I passed, subsisting upon the fallen leaves of trees. The next thousand years I passed, subsisting upon water only. After that I passed seven hundred years, subsisting on air alone. In this way, I adored Mahadeva for a full thousand years of the celestials. After this, the puissant Mahadeva, the Master of all the universe, became gratified with me. Desirous of ascertaining whether I was solely devoted to him and him alone, he appeared before me in the form of Sakra surrounded by all the deities. As the celebrated Sakra, he had a thousand eyes on his person and was armed with the thunderbolt. And he rode on an elephant whose complexion was of the purest white, with eyes red, ears folded, the temporal juice trickling down his cheeks, with trunk contracted, terrible to look at, and endued with four tusks.