śrī śiva stotram (kalki kṛtam)

Kalki's hymn to Shiva, from the Kalki Purana — the tenth avatara praising the god, which is the interest of the piece as much as anything in it. Lord of Gauri, lord of the world, the refuge, the dwelling of beings, adorned at the throat with Vasuki; three-eyed, five-faced, first of gods, ancient — I bow to him who is skilled at the massing of thick bliss. The second verse turns to the fiercer register without changing tone: lord of yoga, destroyer of desire, terrible, the lord whose head is wet with the touch of Ganga, the mass of matted hair flung up about him — I salute Mahakala, whose brow bears the moon. Eight verses, each a single closed picture, and no petition anywhere in them.