Shloka 56
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
भयंकर कर्म करनेवाले तथा अपनी महिमासे कभी च्युत न होनेवाले महात्मा रुद्रदेवकी रौद्रकर्मोद्वारा ही स्तुति करके अश्वत्थामा हाथ जोड़कर इस प्रकार बोला ।।
sañjaya uvāca | bhayaṅkara-karma-karaṇe vāle tathā svamahimāse kabhī cyuta na honevāle mahātmā rudradeva kī raudra-karmodvārā hī stuti karke aśvatthāmā hātha joṛakara isa prakāra bolā || drauṇir uvāca | imam ātmānam apadya ahaṃ jātam āḍrirase kule | svagnau juhomi bhagavan pratigṛhṇīṣva māṃ balim ||
Sañjaya sprach: Nachdem er den großherzigen Rudra gepriesen hatte—dessen Taten furchtbar sind und dessen Herrlichkeit niemals schwindet—und dabei seine wilden Werke anrief, sprach Aśvatthāmā mit gefalteten Händen so. Drauṇi (Aśvatthāmā) sprach: „Zuflucht nehmend zu diesem eigenen Selbst, das in der Linie Āḍrirasa geboren ist, opfere ich mich in mein eigenes Feuer. O Bhagavān, nimm mich als bali, als Opfergabe, an.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in moments of moral collapse and extreme violence, a person may seek divine sanction through ritual language—offering oneself as an oblation. It raises an ethical tension: devotion and sacrifice can be invoked even to empower fearsome acts, reminding readers to distinguish genuine dharma from self-justifying religiosity.
Sañjaya narrates that Aśvatthāmā praises Rudra’s fierce aspect and then, with folded hands, declares a self-offering into his ‘own fire,’ asking the Lord to accept him as an oblation—an act of consecration before the dreadful events of the Sauptika episode.