Mahabharata 3.39.74 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 74
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
अजुन उवाच कपर्दिन् सर्वदेवेश भगनेत्रनिपातन । देवदेव महादेव नीलग्रीव जटाधर
arjuna uvāca
kāpardin sarvadeveśa bhagane-tra-nipātana |
deva-deva mahādeva nīlagrīva jaṭādhara ||
Arjuna sprach: „O Kāpardin, Herr aller Götter, du, der du das Auge Bhagas zu Boden schlugst! O Gott der Götter, großer Mahādeva—blaukehlig, Träger der verfilzten Locken—“ So begann Arjuna seine ehrfürchtige Anrede, pries Śivas furchtgebietende Taten und seine asketische Majestät, ehe er um göttlichen Beistand bat.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Approaching the divine begins with humility and truthful recognition of the deity’s nature—both benevolent and formidable. Arjuna’s stuti models devotion grounded in awareness of Śiva’s ascetic authority and cosmic power, implying that ethical strength and success should be sought through reverence and self-discipline rather than arrogance.
In the Vana Parva context, Arjuna addresses Śiva with a hymn-like salutation. He invokes Śiva by multiple epithets—Kāpardin, Sarvadeveśa, Deva-deva, Mahādeva, Nīlagrīva, Jaṭādhara—and recalls the deed of striking down Bhaga’s eye, establishing Śiva’s supremacy before proceeding to request divine favor.
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