Shloka 111
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
देव्या प्रणोदितो देव: कारुण्याद्रीकृतेक्षण: । ततस्तानाह मनुजान् वरदोडस्मीति शड्कर:
devyā praṇodito devaḥ kāruṇyād rīkṛtekṣaṇaḥ | tatas tān āha manuṣyān varado ’smīti śaṅkaraḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Poussé par la Déesse, le Seigneur vint, le regard adouci et mouillé de compassion. Alors Śaṅkara (Śiva), dispensateur de grâces, dit à ces hommes : “Je suis ici pour vous accorder une grâce.”»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Divine authority is portrayed as inseparable from compassion: the Lord appears not merely to judge but to relieve suffering, and the ethical model presented is that true power responds to distress with mercy and beneficence.
At the Goddess’s prompting, Shiva manifests before the gathered men; his compassionate gaze signals empathy, and he announces his readiness to grant them a boon, marking a turning point where divine intervention enters the human situation.