Shloka 493
नीलकण्ठाय पिज्ञाय स्वर्णकेशाय वै नमः । जलपति तथा देवपतिको नित्य नमस्कार है। पूषाके दाँत तोड़नेवाले, त्रिनेत्रधारी वरदायक शिवको नमस्कार है। नीलकण्ड, पिंगलवर्ण और सुनहरे केशवाले भगवान् शंकरको नमस्कार है
nīlakaṇṭhāya piṅgāya svarṇakeśāya vai namaḥ | jalapataye tathā devapataye nityaṁ namaskāraḥ | pūṣṇo dantabhedine trinetra-dhāriṇe varadāya śivāya namaḥ | nīlakaṇṭhāya piṅgavarṇāya suvarṇakeśāya bhagavate śaṅkarāya namaḥ |
Vyāsa offers a sustained salutation to Śiva: the blue-throated Lord, tawny-hued and golden-haired; the sovereign of the waters and the lord of the gods. He bows to the three-eyed, boon-giving deity who once broke Pūṣan’s teeth—invoking Śiva’s power to restrain arrogance and uphold cosmic order. The hymn frames devotion as a moral refuge amid the violence of war, seeking divine steadiness, protection, and right-guiding strength.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that reverent remembrance of Śiva—invoked through his ethical and cosmic attributes (boon-giving, three-eyed discernment, power to humble pride)—is a stabilizing refuge, especially when human action is strained by conflict and uncertainty.
Vyāsa pauses to recite salutations to Śiva, stringing together epithets and a mythic reference (breaking Pūṣan’s teeth) to invoke divine authority and protection, setting a devotional tone within the larger war narrative of the Droṇa Parva.