Shloka 18
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
तत्र चैव रमन्तीमे भूतसंघा: शुचिस्मिते । न च भूतगणैर्देवि विनाहं वस्तुमुत्सहे,पवित्र मुसकानवाली देवि! ये मेरे भूतगण श्मशानमें ही रमते हैं। इन भूतगणोंके बिना मैं कहीं भी रह नहीं सकता
tatra caiva ramantī me bhūtasaṅghāḥ śucismite | na ca bhūtagaṇair devi vināhaṃ vastum utsahe ||
ശുചിസ്മിതേ ദേവി! എന്റെ ഈ ഭൂതസംഘങ്ങൾ അവിടെയേ—ശ്മശാനത്തിലേ—രമിക്കുന്നു. ദേവി, ഈ ഭൂതഗണങ്ങളില്ലാതെ എവിടെയും വസിക്കാൻ എനിക്ക് ധൈര്യമില്ല.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights Śiva’s inseparability from his bhūta-gaṇas—beings associated with liminal, fearsome spaces—suggesting an ethic of inclusion and transcendence of social notions of purity/impurity: the divine embraces even those on the margins.
Śiva addresses Devī with the epithet “śucismitā” and explains that his attendant hosts delight in that particular place (implied by context as a cremation-ground/liminal abode), and that he is unwilling to dwell elsewhere without them.