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 ||
ಮಹಾನ್ ಮೃಗವ್ಯಾಧನಿಗೆ, ಪರಾಕ್ರಮಿ ಧನುರ್ಧರನಿಗೆ, ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಭವ (ಶಿವ)ನಿಗೆ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ; ಸೋಮ (ಚಂದ್ರ) ಸಮ ಮುಖವಿರುವ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠನಿಗೆ; ಸಿದ್ಧಮಂತ್ರಸಂಪನ್ನನಿಗೆ, ಸರ್ವದರ್ಶಿ ನೇತ್ರಸ್ವರೂಪನಿಗೆ ವಂದನೆ।
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.