Shloka 23
त्रिवर्गमूलनिश्चयः — Determining the Roots of Dharma, Artha, and Kāma
Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 123
अत्र त्वमनुकम्पां वै कर्तुमहसि शंकर । संकरो न भवेदत्र यथा तद् वै विधीयताम्,ऐसी अवस्था हो जानेपर पितामह ब्रह्माने सनातन भगवान् विष्णुका पूजन करके वरदायक देवता महादेवजीसे कहा--“शंकर! इस परिस्थितिमें आपको कृपा करनी चाहिये। जिस प्रकार संसारमें वर्णसंकरता न फैले, वह उपाय आप करें
atra tvam anukampāṁ vai kartum arhasi śaṅkara | saṅkaro na bhaved atra yathā tad vai vidhīyatām ||
Vasuharoma said: “Here, O Śaṅkara, you ought indeed to show compassion. Please arrange matters so that no confusion of social order (varṇa-saṅkara) arises in this world.”
वसुहरोम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames compassion as active responsibility: a divine (or governing) power should intervene to prevent social and moral disorder (saṅkara), thereby protecting dharma and the stability of the world.
Vasuharoma addresses Śaṅkara (Śiva), urging him to take compassionate action and to institute a measure by which disruptive ‘mixing/confusion’—understood in context as varṇa-saṅkara or breakdown of social order—does not spread in the world.