Shloka 62
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच ब्राह्मणा लोकसारेण सृष्टा धात्रा गुणार्थिना । लोकांस्तारयितुं कृत्स्नान् मर्त्येषु क्षितिदेवता:
śrīmaheśvara uvāca | brāhmaṇā lokasāreṇa sṛṣṭā dhātrā guṇārthinā | lokāṁstārayituṁ kṛtsnān martyeṣu kṣitidevatāḥ ||
Śrī Maheśvara said: “O Devī, the Creator (Dhātṛ), desiring the play and fruition of the guṇas, brought forth the Brāhmaṇas in the mortal world from the very essence of the cosmos, so that all the worlds might be guided across to welfare and liberation. Among humans they are the ‘deities of the earth’; therefore I shall first describe their dharma and rites and the fruits thereof, for the dharma found in Brāhmaṇas is regarded as the highest dharma.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that Brāhmaṇas are created from the ‘essence of the world’ to guide and uplift society; hence their dharma—grounded in learning, restraint, and ritual responsibility—is presented as paradigmatic and ‘highest’ in the text’s ethical hierarchy.
Śiva (Śrī Maheśvara) addresses Devī and begins a discourse on Brāhmaṇa-dharma, explaining their cosmic origin by the Creator and announcing that he will first describe their duties and the results of their prescribed actions.