Shloka 67
Aśvatthāmā’s Stuti of Rudra and Śiva’s Empowerment (सौप्तिकपर्व, अध्याय ७)
महामना अभश्वत्थामासे ऐसा कहकर भगवान् शिवने अपने स्वरूपभूत उसके शरीरमें प्रवेश किया और उसे एक निर्मल एवं उत्तम खड्ग प्रदान किया ।। अथाविष्टो भगवता भूयो जज्वाल तेजसा । वेगवांश्वाभवद् युद्धे देवसृष्टेन तेजसा,भगवानका आवेश हो जानेपर अभश्वृत्थामा पुन: अत्यन्त तेजसे प्रज्वलित हो उठा। उस देवप्रदत्त तेजसे सम्पन्न हो वह युद्धमें और भी वेगशाली हो गया
sañjaya uvāca | mahāmanā aśvatthāmā iti uktvā bhagavān śivaḥ sva-svarūpa-bhūte tasya śarīre praviśya tasmai nirmalaṃ ca uttamaṃ khaḍgaṃ pradadau | atha āviṣṭo bhagavatā bhūyo jajvāla tejasā | vegavān ca abhavad yuddhe deva-sṛṣṭena tejasā |
Sañjaya said: Having spoken thus, the Blessed Lord Śiva entered into Aśvatthāmā’s very body—his own manifest form—and bestowed upon him a pure and excellent sword. Possessed by the Lord, Aśvatthāmā blazed forth again with overwhelming radiance; empowered by that divinely granted energy, he became even more impetuous and formidable in battle. The passage underscores how divine empowerment, when joined to a warrior’s intent, can magnify destructive capacity—raising an ethical tension between bestowed power and the responsibility for its use.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that extraordinary power may be divinely conferred, yet its moral weight remains with the human agent. Divine empowerment can intensify a warrior’s capacity for harm, making ethical restraint and right intention crucial—especially amid vengeance-driven violence.
Sañjaya narrates that Śiva enters Aśvatthāmā’s body and grants him a flawless, superior sword. With the Lord’s presence, Aśvatthāmā’s radiance and battle-impetus surge, making him more formidable through divinely generated energy.