Shloka 51
Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)
ऊचुः प्राउज्जलय: सर्वे कथ्यतां को भवानिति | तब ब्रह्मा आदि देवता तथा प्रजापति दक्ष--ये सब के-सब हाथ जोड़कर बोले --देवदेव! कहिये, आप कौन हैं?” || ५० है ।।
Vīrabhadra uvāca: Nāhaṃ rudro na vā devī naiva bhoktum ihāgataḥ.
तेव्हा ब्रह्मा आदि देव आणि प्रजापती दक्ष—सर्वांनी हात जोडून म्हटले, “देवदेव! सांगा, आपण कोण?” वीरभद्र म्हणाला, “मी न रुद्र आहे, न देवी; आणि भोग किंवा हवि घेण्यासाठी मी येथे आलेलो नाही.”
वीरभद्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes non-self-interested action: the speaker denies coming for enjoyment or reward, pointing to a principle that true duty or divine mission is not driven by personal consumption but by a larger moral-cosmic necessity.
Vīrabhadra responds to questioning about his identity and purpose. He refuses to be reduced to familiar divine labels (Rudra/Devī) and clarifies that his presence is not for receiving offerings or pleasures, setting a grave tone for the events connected with enforcing order around sacrificial and ethical transgression.