Shloka 190
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
दिवसकरशशाड्कवद्िदीप्तं त्रिभुवनसारमसारमाद्यमेकम् । अजरममरमप्रसाद्य रुद्रं जगति पुमानिह को लभेत शान्तिम्
divākarāśaśāṅkavahnidīptaṃ tribhuvanasāram asāram ādyam ekam | ajaram amaram aprasādya rudraṃ jagati pumān iha ko labheta śāntim ||
Vāsudeva said: “He who is made resplendent by the radiance of the sun, the moon, and fire; who is the very essence of the three worlds, beyond whom there is no higher ‘essence’; who is the primal cause of the universe, one without a second, unborn and deathless—without first pleasing that Lord Rudra through devotion, what man in this world could ever attain peace?”
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Peace (śānti) is presented as dependent on divine grace: one must please Rudra through devotion. The verse frames Rudra as the unique, primordial, deathless essence behind the cosmos, implying that ethical and spiritual tranquility is not merely self-made but arises from alignment with and surrender to the highest reality.
Vāsudeva speaks in praise of Rudra, describing him with cosmic attributes (illumined by sun, moon, and fire; essence of the three worlds) and concludes with a rhetorical question: without propitiating Rudra, who can attain peace in the world? The speech functions as a theological affirmation and a devotional exhortation.