Shloka 53
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
अश्वमेधजितॉल्लोकानाप्रोति त्रिदिवालये
aśvamedhajitān lokān āpnoti tridivālaye | yo rājā duḥkhī manuṣyānāṃ hastasya sahāraṃ dadāti sa iha ca paraloke ca sammānito bhavati | gāṃś ca brāhmaṇāṃś ca saṅkaṭāt trātuṃ yaḥ parākramaṃ darśayitvā saṅgrāme mṛtyuṃ prāpnoti sa svarge ’śvamedhayajñair jitān lokān adhitiṣṭhati ||
Maheshvara declara que el rey que se vuelve “mano de apoyo” para los que sufren es honrado en este mundo y en el venidero. Y aquel que, con valentía, muere en batalla para rescatar de peligro a las vacas y a los brahmanes, alcanza el cielo y obtiene señorío sobre los reinos que se dice se ganan mediante los sacrificios de Aśvamedha; así se equipara la realeza protectora y abnegada con el mérito ritual más alto.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
True royal dharma is protective compassion: supporting the distressed and risking even one’s life to safeguard cows and Brahmins yields honor here and heavenly reward beyond, comparable to the highest royal sacrifices.
Maheśvara is instructing about the fruits of righteous conduct: he praises the king who aids suffering subjects and extols the warrior who dies defending vulnerable, dharmically significant groups, stating that such death grants exalted heavenly status like that gained through Ashvamedha rites.