śrī śiva stutiḥ (laṃkeśvara kṛtam)

Eleven verses given by their colophon to the lord of Lanka, and written in a long, heavily compounded metre that matches the reputation of their attributed author — Ravana the grammarian and hymnist rather than Ravana the abductor. The first verse is a single sweep down the figure: the darkness gathered at the throat, the moon shown at the brow, the mass of matted hair bound up, the lovely lotus hands, the skull raised, the elephant hide displayed at the waist — some light past naming, which we praise every moment. The second sets him on the bull, the glory of the white garland about him driving out the pride of Kubera's mountain in its own whiteness, and then reddened here and there with the saffron from Uma's breast.