Shloka 27
आते ही मनोहर हास्यवाली देवी उमाने मनोरंजन या हास-परिहासके लिये मुसकराकर अपने दोनों हाथोंसे सहसा भगवान् शंकरके दोनों नेत्र बंद कर लिये ।। संवृताभ्यां तु नेत्रा भ्यां तमोभूतमचेतनम् । निहोॉम निर्वषट््कारं जगद् वै सहसाभवत्,उनके दोनों नेत्रोंके आच्छादित होते ही सारा जगत् सहसा अन्धकारमय, चेतनाशून्य तथा होम और वषट्कारसे रहित हो गया
saṃvṛtābhyāṃ tu netrābhyāṃ tamo-bhūtam acetanaṃ | nihomaṃ nirvaṣaṭkāraṃ jagad vai sahasābhavat ||
Nārada said: When the Lord’s two eyes were suddenly covered, the entire world at once was engulfed in darkness, bereft of consciousness and stripped of sacred rites—no fire-offerings were made and no vaṣaṭ-calls were heard.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dependence of cosmic stability and dharmic life on the sustaining divine presence: when that sustaining ‘vision’ is obstructed, darkness and the cessation of sacred order (ritual activity) follow. It also implies ethical caution—seemingly playful actions can have disproportionate consequences when they affect what upholds the world.
In the Śiva–Umā episode narrated by Nārada, Śiva’s eyes are suddenly covered, and immediately the cosmos becomes dark and inert; Vedic rites cease, symbolized by the absence of homa and the vaṣaṭ-call.