Shloka 44
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
मनोवाक्कर्मभिर्भक्तान् पाति पुत्रानिवौरसान् | पिबन्तो5सृग्वसाश्रान्ये क्रुद्धा ब्रह्मद्विषां सदा,मन, वाणी और कर्मसे अपने प्रति भक्ति रखनेवाले उन भक्तोंका भगवान् शिव सदा औरस पुत्रोंकी भाँति पालन करते थे। बहुत-से पार्षद रक्त और वसा पीकर रहते थे। वे ब्रह्मद्रोहियोंपर सदा क्रोध प्रकट करते थे
manovākkarmabhir bhaktān pāti putrān ivaurasān | pibanto 'sṛgvasāśrāny eke kruddhā brahmadviṣāṁ sadā ||
Sañjaya said: By their mind, speech, and deeds, those who were devoted were protected by Lord Śiva—always, as if they were his own legitimate sons. Some of his fierce attendants lived by drinking blood and fat, ever wrathful toward those who are hostile to the Brahmanical order.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts two linked ideas: (1) steadfast devotion expressed through thought, speech, and action draws divine protection, and (2) hostility toward brahman—understood as the sacred/Vedic and Brahmin-protecting moral order—invites fierce opposition from Śiva’s retinue. Ethically, it frames devotion and reverence for dharmic order as protective, while sacrilege and anti-dharmic aggression provoke retribution.
Sañjaya describes Śiva’s relationship with his followers: he guards his devotees like his own sons. He also depicts the terrifying nature of some of Śiva’s attendants, who are portrayed as blood-and-fat drinkers, perpetually enraged at those deemed enemies of brahman—setting a grim, punitive atmosphere consistent with the Sauptika Parva’s night of slaughter and its supernatural overtones.