Shloka 25
Sunartaka-Naṭa Avatāra and Pārvatī’s Boon-Request (Śiva as the Testing Benefactor)
मेना तद्वचनं श्रुत्वा चुकोपाति सुविस्मिता । भिक्षुकम्भर्त्सयामास बहिष्कर्तुमियेष सा
menā tadvacanaṃ śrutvā cukopāti suvismitā | bhikṣukambhartsayāmāsa bahiṣkartumiyeṣa sā
Hearing those words, Menā—utterly astonished—became enraged. She rebuked the mendicant and resolved to drive him out of the house.
Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Bhikṣāṭana
FAQs
It highlights how worldly pride and social prejudice can obstruct recognition of the divine; Shiva’s grace often comes in humble forms that test receptivity, humility, and bhakti.
Saguna Shiva is worshiped not only in icon or Linga, but also through honoring Shiva’s living signs—ascetics, devotees, and renunciant ideals; rejecting a ‘bhikshuka’ symbolically reflects rejection of Shiva’s presence in humble guise.
Practice humility and seva: offer respectful hospitality to Shiva-bhaktas/ascetics, and inwardly repeat the Panchakshara mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” to dissolve anger and ego before approaching Shiva worship.