Shloka 15
अजेयं त्वां प्राप्तः प्रतिभयमना मारुतगतिस्स्वयं विष्णुर्देवः कनककशिपुं कश्यपसुतम् । नखैस्तीक्ष्णैर्भक्त्या तदपिभगवञ्छिष्टवशगः प्रवृत्तस्त्रैलोक्य विधमतु मलं व्यात्तवदनः
ajeyaṃ tvāṃ prāptaḥ pratibhayamanā mārutagatissvayaṃ viṣṇurdevaḥ kanakakaśipuṃ kaśyapasutam | nakhaistīkṣṇairbhaktyā tadapibhagavañchiṣṭavaśagaḥ pravṛttastrailokya vidhamatu malaṃ vyāttavadanaḥ
O Invincible Lord, Viṣṇu himself—swift as the wind and intent on dispelling fear—came upon Hiraṇyakaśipu, the son of Kaśyapa. With razor-sharp nails, and moved by bhakti, he too submitted to Your ordinance, O Bhagavān, and went forth with gaping mouth to crush the impurity that afflicted the three worlds.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Purāṇic account to the sages, describing Viṣṇu’s Narasiṃha act as operating under Śiva’s supreme ordinance)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: As Viśvanātha, Śiva is the sovereign of the worlds; the verse’s claim that even Viṣṇu acts under Śiva’s ordinance resonates with Kāśī’s theology of Śiva as the ultimate Lord who grants liberation and governs cosmic order.
Significance: Affirms Śiva’s lordship (pati) over all deities; pilgrimage is associated with śiva-anugraha and liberation-oriented devotion.
Type: stotra
Cosmic Event: Avatāra-event allusion: Narasiṃha’s emergence to remove tri-loka mala (adharma).
FAQs
The verse frames even Viṣṇu’s fear-dispelling intervention as functioning under Śiva’s higher sovereignty, emphasizing Shaiva Siddhānta’s theme that the Supreme Pati removes mala (spiritual impurity) from the worlds through grace, using whatever divine agency is appropriate.
By calling Śiva ‘unconquerable’ and presenting other deities as obedient to His ordinance, the verse supports Saguna Śiva worship—especially Liṅga-upāsanā—as devotion to the supreme Lord whose command governs cosmic protection and purification.
The practical takeaway is śaraṇāgati (surrender) and bhakti: meditate on Śiva as the remover of fear and mala, repeat the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), and adopt purificatory disciplines such as Tripuṇḍra-bhasma and Rudrākṣa with a mind set on dharma.