Shloka 105
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
सोमपानां च देवानामूष्मपाणां तथैव च । उज्छन्ति ये समीपस्था: सदारा नियतेन्द्रिया:
somapānāṁ ca devānām ūṣmapānāṁ tathaiva ca | ucchanti ye samīpasthāḥ sadārā niyatendriyāḥ ||
Mahādeva said: “There are ascetics who live close to the gods known as the Soma-drinkers and likewise those known as the Heat-drinkers. Dwelling in their vicinity, these disciplined men sustain themselves by the austere ‘uccha’ mode of livelihood and keep their senses under control, living together with their wives.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises disciplined living: maintaining strict control of the senses and sustaining oneself through an austere, non-possessive livelihood (uccha-vṛtti), even while living as a married ascetic (sadāra). Proximity to the divine is linked with restraint and simplicity rather than consumption and excess.
Mahādeva describes a class of self-restrained ascetics who dwell near certain divine beings called Somapāḥ and Ūṣmapāḥ. He characterizes their way of life—subsisting by uccha (gleaning/leftover-based living) and practicing sense-control—presenting them as exemplars of tapas and dharma.