Text 26] Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva 1051

them constantly. In pictures, Lord Siva is generally painted white, but here
we find that the color of his skin is not exactly white but is like molten
gold, or a glowing yellowish color. Because Lord Siva is always very, very
merciful, his name is Agutoga. Amongst all the demigods, Lord Siva can be
pacified even by the lowest class of men, who need only offer him obeisances
and leaves of a bael tree. Thus his name is Agutosa, which means that he is
pleased very quickly.

Generally those who are very fond of material prosperity approach Lord
Siva for such benediction. The lord, being very merciful, quickly awards
all the blessings the devotee asks of him. The demons take advantage of this
leniency and sometimes take benedictions from Lord Siva which can be
very dangerous to others. For instance, Vrkasura took a benediction
from Lord Siva by which he could kill everyone he touched on the head.
Although Lord Siva sometimes very liberally gives such benedictions to his
devotees, the difficulty is that the demons, being very cunning, sometimes
want to experiment improperly with such benedictions. For instance, after
receiving his benediction, Vrkasura tried to touch the head of Lord
Siva. Devotees of Lord Visnu, however, have no desire for such benedic-
tions,and Lord Visnu does not give His devotees benedictions which would
cause disturbance to the whole world.

TEXT 26
aa WT | ATATRTATAS: |
THAT MOTH MA: MTSE NEI

sa tan prapannarti-haro
bhagavan dharma-vatsalah

dharma-jiian sila-sampannan
pritah pritan uvaca ha

sah—Lord Siva; tan—them; prapanna-arti-harah—one who drives away
all kinds of dangers; bhagavan—the lord; dharma-vatsalah—very much fond
of religious principles; dharma-jidn—persons who are aware of religious
principles; sila-sampannan—very well behaved; pritah—being pleased;
pritan—of very gentle behavior; wvdca—talked with them; ha—in the past.

TRANSLATION

_ Lord Siva became very pleased with the Pracetas because generally Lord
Siva is the protector of pious persons and persons of gentle behavior. Being
very much pleased with the princes, he began to speak as follows.
