Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 161
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
क्रीडते ऋषिकन्याभिक्रषिपत्नीभिरेव च । ऊर्ध्वकेशो महाशेफो नग्नो विकृतलोचन:
krīḍate ṛṣikanyābhikṛṣipatnībhir eva ca | ūrdhvakeśo mahāśepho nagno vikṛtalocanaḥ ||
Vāsudeva said: “He sports with the daughters of seers and with the wives of ascetics. At times he appears with hair standing upright, at times with a mighty phallus, at times naked, and at times with eyes made fierce and strange.”
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that the divine may assume shocking or unconventional forms—fierce, ascetic, or socially transgressive—to reveal cosmic power and to teach that ultimate reality is not confined to ordinary moral or social categories; discernment is required to distinguish human license from divine transcendence.
Vāsudeva describes a deity-like figure (with Śiva-esque traits) who plays among sages’ daughters and wives and manifests in startling appearances—upright hair, pronounced generative power, nakedness, and fierce eyes—emphasizing awe, mystery, and the unsettling majesty of divine manifestation.