Shloka 13
उमोवाच निवासा बहुरूपास्ते दिवि सर्वगुणान्विता: । तांश्व संत्यज्य भगवन् श्मशाने रमसे कथम्
umovāca—nivāsā bahurūpās te divi sarvaguṇānvitāḥ | tāṁś ca saṁtyajya bhagavan śmaśāne ramase katham ||
Umā said: “O Blessed Lord, in heaven you have many kinds of dwellings endowed with every excellence. Leaving all those behind, how is it that you take delight in the cremation-ground?”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral-spiritual contrast between celestial comfort and the cremation-ground, pointing toward vairāgya (detachment) and the contemplation of impermanence: true freedom is not dependent on refined pleasures but on transcendence of attachment.
Umā questions Maheśvara: although he has access to splendid heavenly abodes endowed with every excellence, why does he choose to dwell and rejoice in the cremation-ground. The question sets up Śiva’s explanation of his ascetic, world-transcending stance.