Shloka 18
Muñjavān on Himavat: Maheśvara’s abode, Śiva-stuti, and sacrificial gold
Chapter 8
मृगव्याधाय महते धन्विनेडथ भवाय च | वराय सोमवक्त्राय सिद्धमन्त्राय चक्षुषे
mṛgavyādhāya mahate dhanvine ’tha bhavāya ca | varāya somavaktrāya siddhamantrāya cakṣuṣe ||
Saṃvarta said: “(Salutations) to the great Hunter, to the mighty Archer, and also to Bhava (Śiva); to the excellent One whose face is like the Soma (moon); to Him whose mantras are perfected; to the all-seeing Eye.” In context, the verse functions as a reverential invocation, grounding the speaker’s counsel in humility and in the ethical premise that true power—whether in ascetic practice, kingship, or ritual—must be aligned with a higher, disciplined, and all-seeing divine order.
संवर्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dharmic speech: before asserting power or giving consequential counsel, one invokes the higher moral and spiritual authority symbolized by Śiva—great, disciplined, and all-seeing—implying that effective action must be guided by reverence, restraint, and accountability.
Saṃvarta begins (or punctuates) his discourse with a devotional salutation, praising a divine figure through multiple epithets—Hunter, Archer, Bhava, moon-faced, possessor of perfected mantras, and the Eye—thereby framing the ensuing narrative or instruction within a sacred, legitimizing invocation.