Shloka 13
Muñjavān on Himavat: Maheśvara’s abode, Śiva-stuti, and sacrificial gold
Chapter 8
रुद्राय शितिकण्ठाय पुरुषाय सुवर्चसे । कपर्दिने करालाय हर्यक्ष्णे वरदाय च
rudrāya śitikaṇṭhāya puruṣāya suvarcase | kapardine karālāya haryakṣṇe varadāya ca
રુદ્રને નમસ્કાર—નીલકંઠ, પરમ પુરુષ, તેજસ્વી; જટાધારી, ભયંકર સ્વરૂપધારી; હરિત-તામ્ર નેત્રવાળા અને વરદાતા પ્રભુને પણ નમસ્કાર.
संवर्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches reverent devotion through naming the deity’s many aspects: Śiva is simultaneously ascetic (kapardin), awe-inspiring (karāla), and compassionate (varada). Ethically, it models humility—approaching power not with entitlement but with praise and surrender, trusting that the fearsome can also be benevolent.
Saṃvarta is reciting a stuti (hymn of praise), invoking Rudra/Śiva by a sequence of honorific epithets. The passage functions as a devotional invocation within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader narrative setting, emphasizing divine support and blessing.