Shloka 16

Devanagari script

लोकत्रयविधातारमेकं॑ लोकत्रयाश्रयम्‌ । शुद्धात्मानं भवं भीम॑ं शशाडुककृतशेखरम्‌,तीनों लोकोंके एकमात्र स्रष्टा, त्रिलोकीके आश्रय, शुद्धात्मा, भव, भीम और चन्द्रमाका मुकुट धारण करनेवाले भी वे ही हैं

Transliteration

lokatrayavidhātāram ekaṁ lokatrayāśrayam | śuddhātmānaṁ bhavaṁ bhīmaṁ śaśāṅkakṛtaśekharam ||

Translation

ಅವನೇ ತ್ರಿಲೋಕಗಳ ಏಕೈಕ ವಿಧಾತ, ತ್ರಿಲೋಕಗಳ ಆಶ್ರಯ; ಅವನೇ ಶುದ್ಧಾತ್ಮ, ಭವ, ಭೀಮ, ಮತ್ತು ಚಂದ್ರನನ್ನು ಶಿಖರವಾಗಿ ಧರಿಸಿದವನು.

Word by Word

लोकत्रयविधातारम्the creator/ordainer of the three worlds

एकम्one, single

लोकत्रयाश्रयम्the refuge/support of the three worlds

शुद्धात्मानम्of pure self/nature

भवम्Bhava (Śiva)

भीमम्terrible, awe-inspiring

शशाङ्ककृतशेखरम्having the moon as his crest (moon-crested)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Śiva (Bhava; the moon-crested Lord)

the three worlds (trailokya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms a single supreme refuge and creator of the cosmos—identified through Śiva-epithets—implying that true authority and moral order (dharma) ultimately rest in the divine, not merely in battlefield strength or human agency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa speaks a hymn-like identification of the supreme being as the creator and support of the three worlds, using traditional names and iconographic markers (the moon as a crest) to point to Śiva, thereby framing the surrounding war narrative within a larger cosmic and ethical horizon.