Shloka 17

दारुवनलीला—नीललोहितपरीक्षा, ब्रह्मोपदेशः, अतिथिधर्मः, संन्यासक्रमः

Devanagari script

काचित्तदा तं न विवेद दृष्ट्वा विवासना स्रस्तमहांशुका च शाखाविचित्रान् विटपान्प्रसिद्धान् मदान्विता बन्धुजनांस्तथान्याः

Transliteration

kācittadā taṃ na viveda dṛṣṭvā vivāsanā srastamahāṃśukā ca śākhāvicitrān viṭapānprasiddhān madānvitā bandhujanāṃstathānyāḥ

Translation

Then one woman, on seeing Him, did not recognize Him at all—her garments displaced and her fine cloth slipping. Intoxicated and deluded, she (and the others) mistook well-known trees with branching, variegated boughs for their own kinsfolk.

Word by Word

• kācit: a certain (woman)

• tadā: then

• tam: him

• na: not

• viveda: recognized/understood

• dṛṣṭvā: having seen

• vivāsanā: with garments disarranged/partly unclothed

• srasta: slipped/loosened

• mahā-aṃśukā: fine/large cloth (upper garment)

• ca: and

• śākhā-vicitrān: with variegated branches

• viṭapān: trees/boughs

• prasiddhān: well-known/familiar

• mada-anvitā: possessed of intoxication (and delusion)

• bandhu-janān: relatives/kinsfolk

• tathā: thus/so

• anyāḥ: other (women).

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages of Naimisharanya)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It illustrates how moha (delusive power) can eclipse recognition and right perception; Linga-worship is presented as a stabilizing Shaiva discipline that restores viveka in the pashu so the mind turns toward Pati (Shiva) rather than भ्रम (mistaken appearances).

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

By implication, Shiva-tattva stands beyond the pashu’s intoxicated cognition: when the mind is bound by pasha (mada, delusion), even the evident is misread; Shiva as Pati is the principle that alone can dissolve this bondage and re-establish true knowing.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The takeaway aligns with Pashupata Yoga: restraining intoxication-like mental turbulence and cultivating viveka through japa, dhyana, and Shiva-puja so perception becomes steady and oriented to the real (Shiva) rather than भ्रम.