Shloka 36

धन-राजधर्म संवादः

Discourse on Wealth and Royal Duty

Devanagari script

विश्वरूपो महादेव: सर्वमेधे महामखे । जुहाव सर्वभूतानि तथैवात्मानमात्मना,सम्पूर्ण विश्व जिनका स्वरूप है, उन महादेवजीने सर्वमैध नामक महायज्ञमें सम्पूर्ण भूतोंकी तथा स्वयं अपनी भी आहुति दे दी थी

Transliteration

viśvarūpo mahādevaḥ sarvamedhe mahāmakhe | juhāva sarvabhūtāni tathaivātmānam ātmanā ||

Translation

Arjuna sprach: „Mahādeva, dessen Gestalt das ganze Universum ist, vollzog einst das große Opfer namens Sarvamedha. In jenem weiten Ritus brachte er alle Wesen dar—ja sogar sein eigenes Selbst—durch sein eigenes Selbst.“ Der Vers ruft das ethische Ideal völliger Selbsthingabe auf: Höchste Verehrung ist nicht ritueller Prunk, sondern die Hingabe des Ichs und des Besitzanspruchs zum Wohl und zur Ganzheit aller.

Word by Word

विश्वरूपःwhose form is the universe; universal-formed

महादेवःMahādeva (Śiva)

सर्वमेधेin the Sarvamedha (all-sacrifice)

महामखेin the great sacrifice

जुहावoffered (as oblation); sacrificed

सर्वभूतानिall beings

तथाthus; likewise

एवindeed; just

आत्मानम्himself; the self

आत्मनाby himself; with the self

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Mahādeva (Śiva)

Sarvamedha (sacrifice)

Mahāmakha (great yajña)

Sarvabhūta (all beings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the pinnacle of sacrifice as complete self-offering: the divine ideal is to relinquish ego and ownership so thoroughly that even one’s own self is symbolically offered for the sake of the whole.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna cites an exemplum: Mahādeva, described as cosmic in form, performs the Sarvamedha and is said to have offered all beings and even himself in that great rite, underscoring the magnitude of divine renunciation and power.