Shloka 62
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच ब्राह्मणा लोकसारेण सृष्टा धात्रा गुणार्थिना । लोकांस्तारयितुं कृत्स्नान् मर्त्येषु क्षितिदेवता:
śrīmaheśvara uvāca | brāhmaṇā lokasāreṇa sṛṣṭā dhātrā guṇārthinā | lokāṁstārayituṁ kṛtsnān martyeṣu kṣitidevatāḥ ||
Śrī Maheśvara dit : «Ô Devī, le Créateur (Dhātṛ), désirant le jeu et la fruition des guṇa, fit naître les Brāhmaṇas dans le monde des mortels à partir de l’essence même du cosmos, afin que tous les mondes soient guidés au-delà, vers le bien et la délivrance. Parmi les hommes, on les appelle les “divinités de la terre” ; c’est pourquoi je décrirai d’abord leur dharma, leurs rites et les fruits qui en procèdent, car le dharma que l’on trouve chez les Brāhmaṇas est tenu pour le dharma suprême.»
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that Brāhmaṇas are created from the ‘essence of the world’ to guide and uplift society; hence their dharma—grounded in learning, restraint, and ritual responsibility—is presented as paradigmatic and ‘highest’ in the text’s ethical hierarchy.
Śiva (Śrī Maheśvara) addresses Devī and begins a discourse on Brāhmaṇa-dharma, explaining their cosmic origin by the Creator and announcing that he will first describe their duties and the results of their prescribed actions.