Shloka 136
कपि: श्रेष्ठ इति प्रोक्तो धर्मश्व॒ वृष उच्यते । स देवदेवो भगवान् कीर्त्यतेडतो वृषाकपि:,कपि कहते हैं श्रेष्को और वृष नाम है धर्मका। वृष और कपि दोनों होनेके कारण देवाधिदेव भगवान् शंकर *वृषाकपि” कहलाते हैं
kapiḥ śreṣṭha iti prokto dharmaś ca vṛṣa ucyate | sa devadevo bhagavān kīrtyate 'to vṛṣākapiḥ ||
Vyāsa sagte: „Das Wort ‘kapi’ wird als ‘der Vorzügliche (der Vorderste)’ erklärt, und ‘vṛṣa’ gilt als ein Name der Dharma. Darum wird jener selige Herr, der Gott der Götter—Śaṅkara—als ‘Vṛṣākapi’ gerühmt, weil er durch beides, ‘vṛṣa’ und ‘kapi’, bezeichnet ist.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a traditional etymological praise: sacred names of a deity are meaningful and ethically charged. By linking ‘vṛṣa’ with Dharma and ‘kapi’ with excellence, it frames Śaṅkara’s epithet ‘Vṛṣākapi’ as a reminder that the supreme divine is associated with righteousness (Dharma) and supreme excellence.
Vyāsa pauses to explain the significance of a divine epithet. He interprets the components ‘vṛṣa’ and ‘kapi’ and concludes that Śaṅkara is called ‘Vṛṣākapi’ because the name encapsulates Dharma and श्रेष्ठता (foremost excellence), thereby justifying the title within the story’s devotional and interpretive context.