Shloka 56
महादेवाय भीमाय त> यम्बकाय च शान्तये । ईशानाय मखध्नाय नमो स्त्वन्धकघातिने,महान् देवता, भयंकर रूपधारी, तीन नेत्र धारण करनेवाले, शान्तिस्वरूप, सबका शासन करनेवाले, दक्षयज्ञनाशक तथा अन्धकासुरका विनाश करनेवाले भगवान् शंकरको प्रणाम है
sañjaya uvāca | mahādevāya bhīmāya tryambakāya ca śāntaye | īśānāya makhadhnāya namo 'stv andhakaghātine ||
Sañjaya said: Salutations to Lord Śaṅkara—Mahādeva, the awe-inspiring one; Tryambaka, the three-eyed; the very embodiment of peace; Īśāna, the sovereign ruler of all; the destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrifice; and the slayer of the demon Andhaka. In the midst of war’s terror, this hymn invokes the supreme protector whose fierce power subdues chaos and whose inner nature is peace.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid the violence and moral strain of war, the text models turning to the divine as the source of both restraint (śānti) and decisive power against adharma. Śiva is praised as simultaneously fearsome and peace itself—suggesting that true order may require both inner tranquility and the capacity to end destructive forces.
Sañjaya offers a brief stuti (praise) to Śiva, invoking well-known epithets tied to Purāṇic/Itihāsa lore—his three-eyed form, his destruction of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, and his killing of Andhaka—framing Śiva as a supreme protector whose intervention can alter the course of perilous events in the war.