Shloka 546
Adhyāya 168: Arjuna’s counters to māyā-rains and the onset of darkness
Nivātakavaca engagement
मूर्तिमन्मे स्थित पारश्वे प्रसन्ने गोवृषध्वजे । इस प्रकार भगवान् वृषभध्वजके प्रसन्न होनेपर सम्पूर्ण अस्त्रोंका निवारण करनेवाला और कहीं भी कुण्ठित न होनेवाला दिव्य पाशुपतास्त्र मूर्तिमान् हो मेरे पास आकर खड़ा हो गया
Arjuna uvāca: mūrtimān me sthita-pārśve prasanne govṛṣa-dhvajé |
Arjuna said: When the Lord bearing the bull on His banner was pleased, the divine Pāśupata weapon—capable of neutralizing all other missiles and never failing in any place—appeared in embodied form and stood beside me.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extraordinary power is legitimate only when aligned with dharma and received through humility, discipline, and divine sanction; the Pāśupata weapon symbolizes force that must be governed by restraint and ethical responsibility.
After Śiva (the bull-bannered Lord) is pleased with Arjuna, the divine Pāśupatāstra manifests in tangible form and stands by Arjuna, signifying that he has been granted an unfailing, all-countering weapon.