Shloka 37
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
क्षेत्रीौषध्यो यज्ञवाहाश्छन्दांस्यृषिगणाध्वरा: । समुद्रा दक्षिणास्तोभा ऋक्षाणि पितरो ग्रहा:
kṣetrī auṣadhyo yajñavāhāś chandāṁsy ṛṣigaṇādhvarāḥ | samudrā dakṣiṇāstobhā ṛkṣāṇi pitaro grahāḥ ||
Dijo Vāsudeva: “El campo sagrado y las hierbas curativas; los portadores del sacrificio; los metros védicos y las huestes de rishis que ofician los ritos; los océanos y las dádivas dadas como honorarios sacrificiales (dakṣiṇā); los cantos stobha; las constelaciones, los antepasados y los planetas: todo ello queda comprendido en el orden divino que describo.”
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches an all-encompassing vision of dharma: ritual elements (yajña, chandas, stobha, dakṣiṇā), natural supports (fields, herbs, oceans), and cosmic regulators (constellations, ancestors, planets) form a single integrated sacred order. Ethical life therefore includes reverence for tradition, gratitude through right giving, and responsible care for the natural and cosmic rhythms that sustain society.
Vāsudeva is enumerating categories of beings and principles to show the breadth of the divine/cosmic manifestation being discussed. By listing ritual agents, Vedic forms, natural features, and celestial/ancestral powers, he frames the teaching as universal—extending from sacrificial practice to the structure of the cosmos.