Shloka 43

उच्चैःश्रवसः वर्णविपणः तथा नागशापः

Uccaiḥśravas Color-Wager and the Nāga Curse

Devanagari script

दधार भगवान्‌ कण्ठे मन्त्रमूर्तिमिहेश्वरः । तदाप्रभूति देवस्तु नीलकण्ठ इति श्रुति:,मन्त्रमूर्ति भगवान्‌ महेश्वरने विषपान करके उसे अपने कण्ठमें धारण कर लिया। तभीसे महादेवजी नीलकण्ठके नामसे विख्यात हुए, ऐसी जनश्रुति है

Transliteration

dadhāra bhagavān kaṇṭhe mantramūrtim iheśvaraḥ | tadāprabhṛti devastu nīlakaṇṭha iti śrutiḥ ||

Translation

Śaunaka sprach: Der Herr, Īśvara, hielt die todbringende Substanz, die die Gestalt eines Mantras angenommen hatte, in seiner Kehle fest. Seit jener Zeit, so heißt es in der Überlieferung, ist der Gott unter dem Namen Nīlakaṇṭha („Blaukehliger“) berühmt geworden.

Word by Word

दधारheld, bore

भगवान्the Blessed Lord

कण्ठेin (his) throat/neck

मन्त्रमूर्तिम्the mantra-embodied (poison/essence)

इहhere, in this context

ईश्वरःthe Lord

तद्from that (time/event)

आप्रभृतिonwards, from then on

देवःthe god (Mahādeva)

तुindeed, but

नीलकण्ठःBlue-throated (one)

इतिthus, so (quotative)

श्रुतिःtradition, report

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

Īśvara (Śiva/Maheśvara)

Nīlakaṇṭha (epithet of Śiva)

kaṇṭha (throat)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights protective self-restraint and self-sacrifice: the Lord contains a dangerous force within himself to safeguard others, and this act becomes an enduring moral-symbolic identity (Nīlakaṇṭha).

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka recounts that Īśvara (Śiva) holds the potent, harmful substance in his throat; because of this, tradition says he became famous as Nīlakaṇṭha, the Blue-throated one.