Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
तस्या वत्समुखोत्सृष्ट: फेनो मद्गात्रमागतः । ततो दग्धा मया गावो नानावर्णत्वमागता:
tasyā vatsamukhotsṛṣṭaḥ pheno madgātram āgataḥ | tato dagdhā mayā gāvo nānāvārṇatvam āgatāḥ ||
ਉਸ ਗਾਂ ਦੇ ਵੱਛੇ ਦੇ ਮੂੰਹ ਤੋਂ ਨਿਕਲਿਆ ਝੱਗ ਮੇਰੇ ਸਰੀਰ ਉੱਤੇ ਆ ਪਿਆ। ਇਸ ਨਾਲ ਮੈਂ ਕ੍ਰੋਧਿਤ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਗਾਂਵਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਤਾਪ ਨਾਲ ਪੀੜ੍ਹਣ ਲੱਗਾ; ਮੇਰੇ ਰੋਹ ਨਾਲ ਸੜ ਕੇ ਉਹ ਗਾਂਵਾਂ ਅਨੇਕ ਰੰਗਾਂ ਵਾਲੀਆਂ ਹੋ ਗਈਆਂ।
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a moment of anger, especially when directed toward innocent beings, produces disproportionate harm and lasting consequences; the passage implicitly cautions restraint and ethical accountability, highlighting the sanctity of cows and the moral weight of one’s reactions.
Mahādeva narrates that foam from a calf’s mouth accidentally fell on his body; taking offense, he became angry and inflicted burning heat upon the cows, and as a result of being scorched by his wrath, the cows’ colors became varied.