Shloka 34
शारभावतारवर्णनम्
Account of Śiva’s Śārabha Manifestation and the Measureless Avatāras
समुद्रो मथितश्चैव रत्नानां च विभागशः । कृते देवैस्तदा शंभो गृहीतं गरलन्त्वया
samudro mathitaścaiva ratnānāṃ ca vibhāgaśaḥ | kṛte devaistadā śaṃbho gṛhītaṃ garalantvayā
Als der Ozean gequirlt wurde und die Kostbarkeiten unter den Göttern verteilt waren, da, o Śambhu, nahmst du aus Mitgefühl das tödliche Gift auf dich, um die Welten zu schützen.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Nīlakaṇṭha
Sthala Purana: The verse recalls the samudra-manthana episode where Śiva accepts the halāhala poison to protect the worlds; it functions as a pan-Śaiva etiological praise for the epithet Nīlakaṇṭha rather than a specific Jyotirliṅga origin.
Significance: Remembrance of Nīlakaṇṭha is held to avert calamity and protect devotees from विष-भय (fear of poison/suffering), emphasizing Śiva as universal refuge.
Type: stotra
Cosmic Event: Samudra-manthana (churning of the Ocean of Milk) and emergence of halāhala
FAQs
It highlights Shiva as Śambhu—the beneficent Lord—who bears the world’s poison upon himself, teaching the Shaiva Siddhanta ideal that the Pati (Shiva) compassionately protects bound souls (paśu) and sustains cosmic order.
The act of accepting the poison is a Saguna leela (divine deed) that devotees remember in Linga worship as Neelkantha’s protective grace—approaching the formless Supreme through a tangible, compassionate form and story.
A practical takeaway is to worship Shiva as Neelkantha with steady japa of the Panchakshara mantra (Om Namah Shivaya), offering water (abhisheka) with a prayer to transmute inner ‘poisons’ like anger and pride into purity.