शंभुं पुराणं पुरुषं ह्यधीशं वरेण्यरूपं च परं पराणाम् । तपो जुषाणं परमार्थरूपं परात्परं तं शरणं व्रजामि
śaṃbhuṃ purāṇaṃ puruṣaṃ hyadhīśaṃ vareṇyarūpaṃ ca paraṃ parāṇām | tapo juṣāṇaṃ paramārtharūpaṃ parātparaṃ taṃ śaraṇaṃ vrajāmi
Zu Śambhu — der uralten Person, dem höchsten Herrn und Gebieter, von erlesenster Gestalt, dem Höchsten jenseits alles Höchsten — nehme ich Zuflucht. Er erfreut sich an Tapas, und sein Wesen ist die höchste Wahrheit; zu dem Überhöchsten suche ich Schutz.
Viṣṇu (deduced: a concluding devotional declaration following Viṣṇu’s reassurance)
Tirtha: Kedāra / Kedāranātha
Type: kshetra
Listener: Ṛṣis at Naimiṣāraṇya (standard Sūta frame)
Scene: A solitary devotee in snowy Kedāra landscape offers folded hands to an unseen, all-pervading Śambhu; the verse’s emphasis is on transcendence—Śiva as the supreme beyond the supreme, delighting in tapas.
Śaraṇāgati (taking refuge) in Śiva—seen as the supreme reality—grounds the seeker in fearlessness and truth.
The Kedāra sacred context frames the hymn-like verse, but the focus is on Śiva’s transcendence rather than a named locale.
No external rite; the inner act of refuge-taking and honoring tapas is the implied spiritual practice.