Shloka 21
धर्मद्वारबहुत्वविमर्शः — Reflection on the Many ‘Doors’ of Dharma (Śānti-parva 342)
उग्रव्रतचरो रुद्रो योगी परमदारुण: । दक्षक्रतुहरश्चैव भगनेत्रहरस्तथा,समस्त प्राणियोंको वर देनेवाले वे दोनों देवता सृष्टि और प्रलयके निमित्तमात्र हैं। (वास्तवमें तो वह सब कुछ भगवान्की इच्छासे ही होता है।) इनमेंसे संहारकारी रुद्रके कपर्दी (जटाजूटधारी), जटिल, मुण्ड, श्मशानगृहका सेवन करनेवाले, उग्र व्रतका आचरण करनेवाले, रुद्र, योगी, परम दारुण, दक्षयज्ञ-विध्वंसक तथा भगनेत्रहारी आदि अनेक नाम हैं
ugravratacaro rudro yogī paramadāruṇaḥ | dakṣakratuharaś caiva bhaganetraharas tathā ||
Arjuna said: “Rudra is famed as the fierce observer of austere vows—an ascetic yogin of terrifying aspect. He is also known as the destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrificial rite and as the one who tore out Bhaga’s eye.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights Rudra’s fearsome epithets to convey that divine power includes a corrective, punitive aspect: when sacred order (dharma) is violated—symbolized by the disruption of a sacrifice—divine intervention restores moral and cosmic balance.
Arjuna is describing Rudra (Śiva) through well-known mythic identifiers: his austere vows and yogic nature, his terrifying form, and his role in the episode of Dakṣa’s sacrifice where he destroys the rite and injures Bhaga (removing his eye).