Shloka 81

Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)

Devanagari script

सर्वभूतदया धर्मो न चैकग्रामवासिता । आशापाशविमोक्षश्न शस्यते मोक्षकाड्क्षिणाम्‌

Transliteration

sarvabhūtadayā dharmo na caikagrāmavāsitā | āśāpāśavimokṣaś ca śasyate mokṣakāṅkṣiṇām ||

Translation

Maheshvara sprach: Mitgefühl gegenüber allen Wesen ist der wahre Dharma dessen, der Befreiung sucht. Ein solcher Suchender soll nicht an ein einziges Dorf oder einen festen Wohnsitz gebunden bleiben, sondern sich bemühen, die Fesseln von Hoffnung und Begierde zu durchtrennen. Dies wird an denen gepriesen, die nach Moksha verlangen.

Word by Word

• {'sarva-bhūta-dayā': 'compassion/mercy toward all living beings', 'dharmaḥ': 'righteous duty

• spiritual discipline', 'na': 'not', 'ca': 'and', 'eka-grāma-vāsitā': 'dwelling in only one village

• being settled in one place (as a limitation)', 'āśā': 'hope

• desire', 'pāśa': 'noose

• fetter', 'vimokṣaḥ': 'release

• liberation (from bonds)', 'śasyate': 'is praised

• is commended', 'mokṣa': 'liberation

• final release', 'kāṅkṣiṇām': 'of those who desire/seek'}

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrīmaheśvara (Mahādeva/Śiva)
• sarvabhūta (all beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A seeker of liberation should ground life in universal compassion, avoid narrow attachment to a fixed place or routine, and actively break the inner fetters of hope-driven craving; these qualities are praised as the path of a mumukṣu.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused setting, Śrīmaheśvara speaks as a spiritual authority, laying down practical marks of a mokṣa-seeker—ethical compassion, non-clinging to residence, and inner detachment from desire.