Shloka 74
देवताओंके ऐसा कहनेपर भगवान् शिवने “तथास्तु” कहकर उनके हितकी इच्छासे गन्धमादन और विन्ध्याचल इन दो पर्वतोंको अपने रथके दो पार्श्ववर्ती ध्वज बनाये। फिर समुद्र और पर्वतोंसहित समूची पृथ्वीको रथ बनाकर नागराज शेषको उस रथका धुरा बनाया। तत्पश्चात् त्रिनेत्रधारी पिनाकपाणि देवाधिदेव महादेवने चन्द्रमा और सूर्य दोनोंको रथके दो पहिये बनाये। एलपत्रके पुत्र और पुष्पदनन््तको जूएकी कीलें बनाया। फिर त्यम्बकने मलयाचलको यूप और तक्षक नागको जूआ बाँधनेकी रस्सी बना लिया || ७०-- ७३ || योक्त्राड्ानि च सत्त्वानि कृत्वा शर्व: प्रतापवान् | वेदान् कृत्वाडथ चतुरश्षतुरश्चवान् महेश्वर:,इसी प्रकार प्रतापी भगवान् महेश्वरने अन्य प्राणियोंको जोते और बागडोर आदिके रूपमें रखकर चारों वेद ही रथके चार घोड़े बना लिये
devatānām evaṃ vacane bhagavān śivaḥ “tathāstu” iti uktvā teṣāṃ hitam abhisandhāya gandhamādanaṃ vindhyācalaṃ ca—etau dvau parvatau—svarathasya pārśvavartinau dhvajau cakāra | tataḥ samudra-parvata-sahitāṃ samagrāṃ pṛthivīṃ rathaṃ kṛtvā nāgarājaṃ śeṣaṃ tasya rathasya dhurāṃ cakāra | tataḥ trinetradhārī pinākapāṇiḥ devādhidevo mahādevaś candramasaṃ sūryaṃ ca rathasya dvau cakrau cakāra | elāpatrasya putraṃ puṣpadantaṃ ca yugasya kīlāv akaron | punas tryambakaḥ malayācalaṃ yūpaṃ cakāra takṣaka-nāgaṃ ca yuga-bandhana-raśmiṃ cakāra | anyāni ca sattvāni yoktrāṇi kṛtvā śarvaḥ pratāpavān mahādevaś caturvedaṃ rathasya caturo ’śvān cakāra |
Vyāsa said: When the gods spoke thus, Lord Śiva replied, “So be it,” and, wishing their welfare, fashioned the mountains Gandhamādana and Vindhya as the two side-banners of his chariot. Then, taking the entire earth—together with oceans and mountains—as his chariot, he made the serpent-king Śeṣa its axle. The three-eyed, bow-bearing Mahādeva, lord of the gods, next made the Moon and the Sun the two wheels of that chariot. He appointed Elāpatra’s son and Puṣpadanta as the pegs of the yoke; and Tryambaka made Mount Malaya the sacrificial post and the serpent Takṣaka the rope that binds the yoke. In the same manner, the mighty Śarva arranged other beings as harness and reins, and made the four Vedas themselves the four horses of his chariot—portraying cosmic order as the very power that carries the divine will forward for the good of the gods.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage presents a cosmic allegory: Śiva’s power is not merely martial but rooted in universal order. By making the Vedas the horses and the cosmos the chariot, the text implies that divine action—especially undertaken for the welfare of others—moves on the strength of sacred knowledge and cosmic harmony (dharma/ṛta).
After the gods speak, Śiva assents (“tathāstu”) and prepares an extraordinary chariot by transforming cosmic elements into its parts: mountains as banners, the earth as the chariot-body, Śeṣa as the axle, the Sun and Moon as wheels, and various beings/figures as fittings—culminating in the four Vedas as the four horses.