Shloka 71
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
विष्णुरुवाच आदित्यचन्द्रावनिलानलौ च द्यौर्भूमिरापो वसवो<थ विश्वे । धातार्यमा शुक्रबृूहस्पती च रुद्रा: ससाध्या वरुणो5थगोप:
viṣṇur uvāca ādityacandrāv anilānalau ca dyaur bhūmir āpo vasavo 'tha viśve | dhātāryamā śukrabṛhaspatī ca rudrāḥ sasādhyā varuṇo 'tha gopaḥ ||
Viṣṇu berkata: “Matahari dan Bulan; Angin dan Api; Langit dan Bumi; segala Perairan; para Vasu dan Viśvedeva; Dhātṛ dan Aryaman; Śukra dan Bṛhaspati; para Rudra bersama para Sādhya; dan Varuṇa—ketahuilah bahawa segala kuasa ilahi ini adalah penzahiran yang timbul daripada Mahādeva.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The many deities and cosmic forces (sun, moon, wind, fire, etc.) are to be understood as arising from a single supreme source—Mahādeva—so devotion should move from fragmentation to unity, cultivating humility and reverence for the one reality behind diverse divine functions.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s discourse praising Śiva, a speaker-tag attributes the statement to Viṣṇu, who enumerates major gods and cosmic principles and declares them to be manifestations originating from Mahādeva, reinforcing Śiva’s overarching status within the teaching context.