Shloka 21
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Kṛṣṇa’s Rudra-Cosmogony Explanation (सौप्तिक पर्व, अध्याय १७)
बहुरूपा: प्रजा: सृष्टा विवृद्धाश्व स्वतेजसा | चुक्रोध भगवान् रुद्रो लिड़ं स्वं चाप्यविध्यत,अनेक रूपवाली प्रजाकी सृष्टि हो गयी और वह अपने ही तेजसे भलीभाँति बढ़ भी गयी। यह देखकर भगवान् रुद्र कुपित हो उठे और उन्होंने अपना लिंग काटकर फेंक दिया
bahurūpāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭā vivṛddhāś ca svatejasā | cukrodha bhagavān rudro liṅgaṃ svaṃ cāpyavidhyata ||
Fueron creados seres de múltiples formas, y por su propio fulgor innato prosperaron grandemente. Al verlo, el bienaventurado Rudra se encendió en ira y arrojó lejos su propio liṅga—acto que anuncia una retirada feroz y perturbadora del poder generador cuando se juzga alterado el orden cósmico.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between unchecked proliferation and cosmic balance: when creation expands powerfully on its own, Rudra’s fierce reaction symbolizes the need to restrain or withdraw generative force to restore order. Ethically, it points to governance of power—creation and destruction must be aligned with dharma (right order), not mere impulse.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that many kinds of beings were created and prospered by their own tejas. Rudra, seeing this state of affairs, becomes angry and casts away his own liṅga, a dramatic mythic act indicating a rupture or suspension of generative potency within the cosmic story.