Shloka 8

देवपराजयः — शङ्करशरणागमनं स्कन्दकालीयुद्धं च | Devas’ Defeat, Refuge in Śaṅkara, and the Battle of Skanda and Kālī

Devanagari script

पपौ रक्तानि तेषां च दानवानां समं ततः । युद्धं चकार विविधं सुरदानवभीषणम्

Transliteration

papau raktāni teṣāṃ ca dānavānāṃ samaṃ tataḥ | yuddhaṃ cakāra vividhaṃ suradānavabhīṣaṇam

Translation

Then, at once, he drank the blood of those Dānavas; thereafter he waged a many-formed battle, terrifying to both the Devas and the Dānavas.

Word by Word

• पपौ: drank
• पपौ: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पा (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• रक्तानि: blood (drops)
• रक्तानि: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; ‘blood (drops)’/‘red (things)’

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: None (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• दानवानाम्: of the Dānavas
• दानवानाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• समम्: together / equally
• समम्: None (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावप्राय-क्रियाविशेषण (adverb) ‘equally/together’

• ततः: thereafter
• ततः: None (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अपादान/क्रमवाचक-अव्यय (then/thereafter; also ‘from that’)

• युद्धम्: battle
• युद्धम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• चकार: did / waged
• चकार: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• विविधम्: varied
• विविधम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifier of युद्धम्)

• सुरदानवभीषणम्: terrifying to gods and Dānavas
• सुरदानवभीषणम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुर-दानव-भीषण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सम्बन्ध) ‘सुराणां दानवानां च भीषणम्’ = terrifying to gods and Dānavas; (अर्थतः द्वन्द्व-सम्बन्धः सुर+दानव, परं समासरूपेण तत्पुरुष-विशेषण)

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating the Yuddhakhaṇḍa account to the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya)

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pati

Shiva Form: Kālabhairava

Shakti Dimension

Role: destructive

Characters & Entities

• Devas (Suras)
• Danavas

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

The verse portrays the Lord’s fierce, protective grace: by destroying the demonic force and its “blood” (the fuel of tamas and violence), dharma is restored. In Shaiva Siddhanta terms, Shiva as Pati subdues forces that bind beings (pāśa) so the path to clarity and liberation can continue.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

This is a Saguna depiction—Shiva’s manifest power acting within time to protect cosmic order. Linga-worship remembers the same Supreme Reality as both transcendent (nirguṇa) and immanent (saguṇa): the fierce battle form is one mode of the One Lord who is worshipped in the Linga as the stable, all-pervading center.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

A practical takeaway is protective japa of the Pañcākṣarī—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa as aids for steadiness, while meditating on Shiva as the inner purifier who consumes destructive tendencies and establishes fearlessness.