Varunapurana 2: dvitīyo'dhyāyaḥ

The seers said: / "How are these divine plays transcendental, and how do they bestow knowledge? / For the materiality of divine plays is indeed declared by nature, O god.

Dispel this doubt of ours, since you are superior in knowledge." / Varuṇa said: / "Listen with attention, having restrained the mind and mastered speech.

Manifold is the supreme power of this god; / from his very nature arises that power of Maheśa, the bearer of the Pināka.

No one knows its beginning, end, and forms, O chiefs of sages; / there is none equal to him, nor superior, nor inferior; he is indeed one.

Deluded by māyā through the knowledge of duality, Brahmā and Mādhava [thought]: / 'I alone am the greatest in the world,' and Mādhava thought, 'Indeed, I alone.'

Out of ego, they did not perceive the end nor the top of the attributeless One; / that which is the liṅga is dissolution, and from it arises cosmic origin.

It is attributeless, supreme, visible, beyond material nature; / therefore that form and liṅga of Śambhu, who is brahman, is declared.

Characterized by the three guṇas, joined with Umā, three-eyed, yet the liṅga is attributeless: / this first supreme divine play is the destroyer of ego.

The second is the destruction of death and the like, destroying temporal division; / the third is the destruction of the three cities by Tripurāri.

Those three cities were remembered as the three cities consisting of sattva and the other guṇas; / the ascetic and independent Lord is that self, the divine ruler.

His austerity, which was established long ago, is remembered as the earthly body; / Brahmā is his charioteer, and he is declared to be the intellect.

The noble Vedas are the wheels, and the horses are declared to be the mind; / in these cities of the three guṇas, their sacrifice was the ultimate wealth.

The senses are his attendants, remembered as tranquility, self-control, and the like, / along with restraints, observances, and yogic practices that restrain the mind.

That which is Meru is the syllable Oṃ; that which is Viṣṇu is of the nature of the arrow; / the target, however, is devoid of qualities, for by burning it becomes attributeless.

That praise of the God of gods which bestows the meaning of Vedānta, / is declared to be the primeval, supreme [play]; the fourth is the destruction of Dakṣa.

Dakṣa is of the nature of ego; his wife of virtuous vows / is to be understood as active worldly involvement; the gods who were his sharers,

desire, anger, and the rest, were all regarded as having the Lord as their nature; / by ritual action, higher knowledge does not arise: this is demonstrated in the world.

The rejection of Maheśa by Dakṣa, whose nature was ego, / was done by relying on another, being bereft of the knowledge that he is the Self.

All that is indeed the knowledge of duality, and the abandonment of the body of Satī / is the flashing forth of the knowledge of brahman; its destruction is indeed proclaimed.

That destruction was great sorrow for him whose self was veiled by ego; / again, by the grace of Śiva, that which is called the fruit of heaven,

and the destruction following from heaven, by demonstrating great superiority, / is declared so that it may be known that liberation is not to be attained by action.

The fifth divine play of the God of gods is that which arose from the forehead of Brahmā; / the God is the cause of Brahmā, and from him he was born from the forehead.

Creating that body for him through expenditure, he entered that world; / commanded by Brahmā to [produce] offspring, [he created those] devoid of old age and death.

Having seen [them], the Lord was restrained by him as Sthāṇu because of being the witness; / to reveal the witnessing nature, Sthāṇu is to be known by those who see the Self.

From the station in the Devadāru forest, acting as the subduer of action— / having reached the Devadāru forest, that is traditionally remembered as the forest of ignorance.

The sages there who would be the guides are indeed desire, anger, and the rest; / their wives who are spoken of are laughter, auspicious and inauspicious.

Their suppression which is spoken of [is of] the foolish who rely on ritual action; / it is the suppression of the best manifestation of sacrificial works, public charities, and other duties.

And the granting of wisdom among them is the knowledge that gives awareness; / the discourse on worshipping Śiva and so forth is the means by which that knowledge is attained.

As the Lord Sambhu [went] then with a naked body, / the Lord did so to make known the state of those beyond the āśramas,

displaying non-attachment, renunciation, and dispassion. / He who is this Śambhu is the Self itself; she who accompanies him has the nature of a woman.

She is Viṣṇu, greatness, and māyā, emanated by nature from him. / The curse that was given of old, that is proclaimed as sin;

what was incurred was untouched, not united [with him] because of his non-attachment, / and because of activity [he bore] hides and skull-bowls with the attendants and others.

Nothing whatsoever exists apart from oneself—thus was that accepted, O twice-born! / The seventh divine play of the God of gods consists of his marriage.

The Goddess is indeed the Self, and that Goddess is proclaimed as brahmavidyā. / Himavān is spiritual awakening, and the birth of Skanda is likewise the eighth [play].

The play of burning Manmatha and so forth is the Self's freedom from desire; / and the God, the treasure of compassion, acted to reveal that light.

The ninth and tenth are proclaimed as the slaying of the demon Andhaka; / he who was Andhaka is indeed ignorance, which seized the Goddess.

Whatever [that was], let it be understood as the destruction of the light of consciousness. / By Śaṅkara of boundless splendour, with the strike of the eight[-pointed] trident,

he is the Self, the realization of the Self, and the slaying is the destruction of ignorance. / The dance of Śambhu that is transcendent embodies supreme bliss;

it is this very nirvāṇa of brahman, of single unbroken essence; / therein nothing else is yours or another's, nor does it belong to speech or mind.

This dance of the Supreme Lord is proclaimed by the wise; / experiencing it through revelation and instruction, the knower of brahman attains brahman.

From listening to this, one attains knowledge and direct realization. / These are material divine plays [only to one] devoid of material knowledge;

they are to be known as transcendental by knowers of truth, O rulers of sages! / From the hearing of this, sins are destroyed, without a doubt.

Even from hearing the account contained within each single chapter, / one becomes cleansed of sin and attains the realm of Śiva.

Thus ends the second chapter, the telling of the narrative, in the glorious Vāruṇa secondary Purāṇa.