Shloka 55
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
नियतात्मा महादेवमपश्यं सो<ब्रवीच्च माम् | पिता माता च ते त्वं च पुत्र मृत्युविवर्जिता:
niyatātmā mahādevam apaśyaṁ so 'bravīc ca mām | pitā mātā ca te tvaṁ ca putra mṛtyuvivarjitāḥ ||
Gālava sprach: „Nachdem er seinen Geist bezwungen hatte, erblickte er Mahādeva; und dann sagte er zu mir: ‚Für dich werde ich Vater und Mutter sein—und auch du sollst wie mein Sohn sein, frei vom Tod.‘“
गालव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Self-mastery (niyama of the mind) is presented as a condition for divine encounter and divine favor; the verse frames Śiva’s grace as transforming human vulnerability—especially fear of death—into protection and spiritual assurance.
Gālava reports an episode in which a disciplined person beholds Mahādeva and then conveys a declaration to Gālava: a promise of intimate guardianship (as father and mother) and a boon-like assurance of being ‘free from death,’ emphasizing divine protection and blessing.