Shloka 16

Devanagari script

लोकत्रयविधातारमेकं॑ लोकत्रयाश्रयम्‌ । शुद्धात्मानं भवं भीम॑ं शशाडुककृतशेखरम्‌,तीनों लोकोंके एकमात्र स्रष्टा, त्रिलोकीके आश्रय, शुद्धात्मा, भव, भीम और चन्द्रमाका मुकुट धारण करनेवाले भी वे ही हैं

Transliteration

lokatrayavidhātāram ekaṁ lokatrayāśrayam | śuddhātmānaṁ bhavaṁ bhīmaṁ śaśāṅkakṛtaśekharam ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: “He alone is the maker of the three worlds and the refuge of the three worlds—pure in essence, the Lord Bhava, awe-inspiring Bhīma, and the One who bears the moon as his crest.”

Word by Word

लोकत्रयविधातारम्the creator/ordainer of the three worlds

एकम्one, single

लोकत्रयाश्रयम्the refuge/support of the three worlds

शुद्धात्मानम्of pure self/nature

भवम्Bhava (Śiva)

भीमम्terrible, awe-inspiring

शशाङ्ककृतशेखरम्having the moon as his crest (moon-crested)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Śiva (Bhava; the moon-crested Lord)

the three worlds (trailokya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms a single supreme refuge and creator of the cosmos—identified through Śiva-epithets—implying that true authority and moral order (dharma) ultimately rest in the divine, not merely in battlefield strength or human agency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa speaks a hymn-like identification of the supreme being as the creator and support of the three worlds, using traditional names and iconographic markers (the moon as a crest) to point to Śiva, thereby framing the surrounding war narrative within a larger cosmic and ethical horizon.