Shloka 48

Devanagari script

मातृणां पतये चैव गणानां पतये नमः । गवां च पतये नित्यं यज्ञानां पतये नम:,मातृकाओंके अधिपति और गणोंके पालक शिवको नमस्कार है। गोपति और यज्ञपति शंकरको नित्य नमस्कार है

Transliteration

mātṝṇāṃ pataye caiva gaṇānāṃ pataye namaḥ | gavāṃ ca pataye nityaṃ yajñānāṃ pataye namaḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa sprach: Verehrung Śiva, dem Herrn der Mütter (Mātṛkās) und dem Herrn der Gaṇas. Immerdar verneige ich mich vor Śaṅkara, dem Beschützer des Viehs und dem Herrn der Opfer (yajña)—und rufe seinen Schutz und seine glückverheißende Ordnung inmitten des Kriegslärms an.

Word by Word

मातृणाम्of the Mothers (Mātṛs)

पतयेto the lord

चand

एवindeed/just

गणानाम्of the hosts (gaṇas)

पतयेto the lord

नमःsalutation

गवाम्of cows

चand

पतयेto the lord

नित्यम्always

यज्ञानाम्of sacrifices

पतयेto the lord

नमःsalutation

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Śiva

Śaṅkara

Mātṛkās

Gaṇas

Cows (cattle)

Yajña (sacrifice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

In crisis, dharmic action is strengthened by remembrance of the divine: Śiva is praised as the lord who governs fierce powers (Mātṛkās and Gaṇas) and who upholds social-ritual order (cattle and sacrifice). The verse models devotion as a source of protection and steadiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa utters a brief hymn of salutation to Śiva/Śaṅkara, invoking him through traditional epithets—lord of the Mātṛkās and Gaṇas, protector of cattle, and lord of sacrifice—framing the surrounding war narrative with a call for auspicious guardianship.