Shloka 38
उपमन्युकुमारस्य क्षीरार्थ-प्रार्थना तथा शिवप्रसाद-निबन्धनम् | Upamanyu’s Longing for Milk and the Doctrine of Shiva’s Grace
आस्तां तावन्ममेच्छेयं क्षीरम्प्रति सुराधम । निहत्य त्वां शिवास्त्रेण त्यजाम्येतत्कलेवरम्
āstāṃ tāvanmameccheyaṃ kṣīramprati surādhama | nihatya tvāṃ śivāstreṇa tyajāmyetatkalevaram
“Enough of my desire for the Milk-Ocean. O basest of gods! After slaying you with the Śiva-weapon, I shall cast off this very body.”
A wrathful divine/daitya warrior (contextual speaker within Shatarudrasaṃhitā’s battle-narrative, addressing a deva)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Bhairava
Sthala Purana: The mention of 'kṣīra' evokes the Kṣīra-samudra (Milk Ocean) mythic arena often tied to deva-asura conflict; here it is a battle-context renunciation of a coveted objective in favor of violent resolve.
Significance: Not a tīrtha teaching but a cautionary contrast: desire (icchā) and wrath weaponize devotion-symbols (Śivāstra) for saṃhāric ends, illustrating how pāśa (krodha, lobha) can appropriate sacred power.
Shakti Form: Kali
Role: destructive
FAQs
The verse highlights the supremacy of Shiva’s śakti as decisive and irresistible: even amid conflict, the Śivāstra symbolizes divine will that ends ego-driven desire and brings a forced recognition of the transient body.
By invoking the Śivāstra, the speaker implicitly acknowledges Shiva as Saguna—active, personal, and capable of intervention—an outlook aligned with Linga-worship where devotees approach Shiva as the Lord who grants protection, justice, and liberation.
The practical takeaway is remembrance of Shiva’s protective power through japa of the Panchakshara (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and cultivating vairāgya (dispassion) toward the body—rather than literal imitation of violent speech.