Shloka 60
Yudhiṣṭhira–Droṇa Saṃgrāma
Engagement and Countermeasures
वृषध्वजाय मुण्डाय जलिने ब्रह्मचारिणे | तप्यमानाय सलिले ब्रह्मण्यायाजिताय च,विशेष लोहित एवं धूम्रवर्णवाले, मृगव्याधस्वरूप, समस्त प्राणियोंको पराजित करनेवाले, सर्वदा नीलकेश धारण करनेवाले, त्रिशूलधारी, दिव्यलोचन, संहारक, पालक, त्रिनेत्रधारी, पापरूपी मृगोंके बधिक, हिरण्यरेता (अग्नि), अचिन्त्य, अम्बिकापति, सम्पूर्ण देवताओंद्वारा प्रशंसित, वृषभ-चिह्नसे युक्त ध्वजा धारण करनेवाले, मुण्डित मस्तक, जटाधारी, ब्रह्मचारी, जलमें तप करनेवाले, ब्राह्मणभक्त, अपराजित, विश्वात्मा, विश्वस्रष्टा, विश्वको व्याप्त करके स्थित, सबके सेवन करनेयोग्य तथा सदा समस्त प्राणियोंकी उत्पत्तिके कारणभूत आप भगवान् शिवको बारंबार नमस्कार है
sañjaya uvāca |
vṛṣadhvajāya muṇḍāya jaline brahmacāriṇe |
tapyamānāya salile brahmaṇyāyājitāya ca ||
Sañjaya said: “Repeated salutations to Lord Śiva—he whose banner bears the bull, who is shaven-headed, who wears matted locks and lives as a celibate ascetic; who performs austerities while immersed in water; who is devoted to Brahmins and is unconquered.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid war, the text foregrounds dharma through devotion: Śiva is praised as unconquered and as the guardian of brahmaṇya (reverence for Brahmins and sacred order). The hymn implies that true strength is grounded in tapas (discipline), restraint (brahmacarya), and alignment with cosmic law, not merely martial power.
Sanjaya narrates a stuti (hymn) to Śiva, listing ascetic and divine epithets—bull-bannered, shaven-headed, water-immersed, celibate, devoted to Brahmins, unconquered—invoking Śiva’s protection and supremacy as the war’s events intensify.