Shloka 69
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
महादेवप्रपन्नानां न भयं विद्यते क्वचित् । “केशव! कीट, पतंग, पक्षी तथा पशु भी यदि महादेवजीकी शरणमें आ जाया तो उन्हें भी कहीं किसीका भय नहीं प्राप्त होता है ।। ६८ $ ।। एवमेव महादेवं भक्ता ये मानवा भुवि,“इसी प्रकार इस भूतलपर जो मानव महादेवजीके भक्त हैं, वे संसारके अधीन नहीं होते--यह मेरा निश्चित विचार है।” तदनन्तर भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने स्वयं भी धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिरसे कहा--
vāyudeva uvāca | mahādevaprapannānāṁ na bhayaṁ vidyate kvacit | keśava! kīṭa-pataṅga-pakṣī tathā paśavo 'pi yadi mahādevasya śaraṇaṁ prapadyeran, teṣāṁ kvacid api kasyacid bhayaṁ na prāpnoti | evam eva mahādevaṁ ye bhaktā mānavā bhuvi, te saṁsārasyādhīnā na bhavanti—iti me niścitaṁ matam | tadanantaraṁ bhagavān śrīkṛṣṇaḥ svayam api dharmaputraṁ yudhiṣṭhiram uvāca |
Vāyudeva said: “For those who have taken refuge in Mahādeva, fear is found nowhere. O Keśava, even if insects, moths, birds, and beasts come under Mahādeva’s protection, no fear from anyone reaches them. In the same way, the human beings on this earth who are devoted to Mahādeva are not held in bondage by worldly existence—this is my settled conviction.” After this, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself spoke to Dharmaputra Yudhiṣṭhira.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Surrender to Mahādeva is presented as a source of fearlessness: even the weakest beings are said to become free from fear when under his refuge. For humans, devotion implies not being ruled by saṁsāra—i.e., not being spiritually enslaved by worldly conditions and anxieties.
Vāyudeva addresses Keśava (Kṛṣṇa), praising the protective power of taking refuge in Mahādeva and asserting that Mahādeva’s devotees are not subject to worldly bondage. The passage then transitions: Kṛṣṇa proceeds to speak directly to Yudhiṣṭhira in the ongoing dharma instruction.