Shloka 59
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
सर्वभूताश्रय विभो हविर्भूतमवस्थितम् । प्रतिगृहाण मां देव यद्यशक्या: परे मया,विभो! आप सम्पूर्ण भूतोंके आश्रय हैं। देव! यदि शत्रुओंका मेरे द्वारा पराभव नहीं हो सकता तो आप हविष्यरूपमें सामने खड़े हुए मुझ अभश्वत्थामाको स्वीकार कीजिये
sarvabhūtāśraya vibho havirbhūtam avasthitam | pratigṛhāṇa māṁ deva yady aśakyāḥ pare mayā, vibho ||
Sañjaya said: “O all-pervading Lord, refuge of all beings—You stand here as the very oblation. Accept me, O God. If the enemy cannot be overcome by me, then, O Mighty One, receive me as the offering.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a crisis of agency: when victory over the enemy seems unattainable by one’s own power, the speaker turns to the divine as the ultimate refuge, expressing surrender through sacrificial language—offering oneself as the oblation. Ethically, it highlights how war pushes characters toward extreme vows and religious justifications, raising questions about responsibility and the limits of self-will.
In the Sauptika context, the aftermath of the great battle is charged with grief and vengeance. This utterance presents a plea to a deity who is imagined as standing before the speaker in the form of the sacrificial offering itself; the speaker asks to be accepted if defeating the opponents is not possible by his own effort.