Shloka 103

Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ

Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony

Devanagari script

सावर्णिश्वापि विख्यात ऋषिरासीत्‌ कृते युगे । इह तेन तपस्तप्तं षष्टिवर्षशतान्यथ,सत्ययुगमें सावर्णिनामसे विख्यात एक ऋषि थे। उन्होंने यहाँ आकर छ: हजार वर्षोतक तपस्या की

Transliteration

Sāvarṇiś cāpi vikhyāta ṛṣir āsīt kṛte yuge | iha tena tapas taptaṃ ṣaṣṭi-varṣa-śatāny atha ||

Translation

വാസുദേവൻ പറഞ്ഞു—കൃത (സത്യ) യുഗത്തിൽ ‘സാവർണി’ എന്ന പേരിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധനായ ഒരു ഋഷിയും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. അദ്ദേഹം ഇതേ സ്ഥലത്ത് വന്ന് ആറായിരം വർഷം കഠിനതപസ് ചെയ്തു.

Word by Word

सावर्णिःSavarni (name of a sage)

अपिalso/indeed

विख्यातःrenowned

ऋषिःsage

आसीत्was

कृतेin the Krita (Satya) age

युगेin the age/epoch

इहhere

तेनby him/with him

तपःausterity/penance

तप्तम्was performed (lit. heated/practised)

षष्टि-वर्ष-शतानिsixty hundreds of years (i.e., 6000 years)

अथthen/and now

Speaker

वासुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

Sāvarṇi (ṛṣi)

Kṛta Yuga (Satya Yuga)

iha (this place—site of the narration/holy spot implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse upholds tapas (disciplined austerity) as a hallmark of dharma in the Kṛta Yuga, presenting Sāvarṇi’s long penance as an ethical-spiritual exemplar of endurance, self-restraint, and commitment to higher aims.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāsudeva recounts an ancient precedent: a famed sage named Sāvarṇi lived in the Kṛta Yuga and performed severe austerities at this very location for six thousand years, likely to establish the sanctity and spiritual potency of the place and the practice.