Shloka 17
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
समर्थो5यं भवत: सर्वा: पापकृत्या: शमयितु-मन्तरेण महादेवकृत्याम्,यह तुम्हारी सम्पूर्ण पापकृत्याओं (शापजनित उपद्रवों)-का निवारण करनेमें समर्थ है। केवल भगवान् शंकरकी कृत्याको यह नहीं टाल सकता
samartho ’yaṁ bhavataḥ sarvāḥ pāpakṛtyāḥ śamayitum, antareṇa mahādevakṛtyām; yā tuṣmākam samastapāpakṛtyānāṁ (śāpajanitopadravāṇām) nivāraṇe samarthā, kevalaṁ bhagavataḥ śaṅkarasya kṛtyāṁ na śaknoti nivārayitum.
Le roi dit : « Celui-ci peut apaiser tous les méfaits nés du péché qui t’accablent—les fléaux issus des malédictions—sauf la kṛtyā destructrice mise en mouvement par Mahādeva. Toute autre calamité de ce genre, il peut l’écarter ; mais ce qu’a accompli Śaṅkara, il ne saurait l’empêcher. »
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a hierarchy of powers and accountability: many harms (even those arising from curses) may be pacified by suitable means, but what is directly sanctioned by Śiva (Mahādeva/Śaṅkara) is presented as beyond ordinary counteraction—implying reverence for divine ordinance and the limits of human or secondary remedies.
Rāma addresses someone afflicted by curse-born disturbances, assuring them that a certain agent or remedy can neutralize all such harmful rites, with one exception: the specific destructive kṛtyā attributed to Mahādeva, which cannot be averted by that means.