Shloka 19
Purohita-Niyoga and the Brahma–Kṣatra Concord
Aila–Kaśyapa Saṃvāda
कश्यप उवाच आत्मा रुद्रो हृदये मानवानां स्व॑ं स्वं देहं परदेहं च हन्ति । वातोत्पातै: सदृशं रुद्रमाहु- देवैर्जीमूतैी: सदृशं रूपमस्य,कश्यपने कहा--राजन्! ये रुद्रदेव मनुष्योंके हृदयमें आत्मारूपसे निवास करते हैं और समय आनेपर अपने तथा दूसरेके शरीरोंका नाश करते हैं। विद्वान् पुरुष रुद्रको उत्पात-वायु (तूफानी हवा) के समान वेगवान् कहते हैं और उनका रूप बादलोंके समान बताते हैं
kaśyapa uvāca | ātmā rudro hṛdaye mānavānāṁ svaṁ svaṁ dehaṁ paradehaṁ ca hanti | vātotpātaiḥ sadṛśaṁ rudram āhur devair jīmūtaiḥ sadṛśaṁ rūpam asya |
Kashyapa said: “Rudra abides as the very Self within the hearts of human beings. When the appointed time arrives, he brings about the destruction of one’s own body and also of another’s. The wise describe Rudra as swift and irresistible like a storm-wind, and they say his form is like the massed clouds.”
कश्यप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death and destruction as part of a cosmic function: Rudra, present inwardly as the indwelling Self, brings beings to their end when time ripens. Ethically, it encourages sobriety and detachment—recognizing that life and death are governed by a larger order rather than mere personal will.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction, Kashyapa explains Rudra’s nature: he dwells within humans and, at the destined moment, causes the end of one’s own body and others’. To convey Rudra’s power, he uses vivid similes—Rudra’s force is like a violent storm-wind, and his appearance is like dense clouds.