Shloka 7
Upamanyu’s Tapas, Shiva’s Indra-Form Test, and the Bestowal of Kshiroda and Gaṇapatya
दुःखिता विललापार्ता स्मृत्वा नैर्धन्यमात्मनः स्मृत्वा स्मृत्वा पुनः क्षीरम् उपमन्युरपि द्विजाः देहि देहीति तामाह रोदमानो महाद्युतिः
duḥkhitā vilalāpārtā smṛtvā nairdhanyamātmanaḥ smṛtvā smṛtvā punaḥ kṣīram upamanyurapi dvijāḥ dehi dehīti tāmāha rodamāno mahādyutiḥ
Afflicted with sorrow, she wailed in distress, remembering her own poverty. Again and again, remembering the milk, the radiant brahmin boy Upamanyu cried as he spoke to her: “Give it, give it!”
Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya; internal scene describes Upamanyu speaking to his mother)
FAQs
The verse frames milk (kṣīra) as an object of intense longing, setting up the later Shaiva movement from worldly craving to sanctified offering—where the same substance becomes meaningful when redirected toward Pati (Shiva) through worship.
Indirectly, it highlights the Pashu’s condition—need, grief, and dependency under Pāśa (bondage). Shiva-tattva is later revealed as the compassionate Pati who turns suffering and lack into a path of grace (anugraha) when devotion awakens.
It points to the preparatory ground for Pāśupata discipline: confronting desire and scarcity, cultivating endurance and dispassion, and ultimately converting ordinary wants into regulated devotion expressed through puja (e.g., milk-offering) rather than attachment.