Shloka 35
शारभावतारवर्णनम्
Account of Śiva’s Śārabha Manifestation and the Measureless Avatāras
रक्षिताः स्म तदा नाथ नीलकण्ठ इति श्रुतः । विषं पास्यसि नो चेत्त्वं भस्मीभूतास्तदाखिलाः
rakṣitāḥ sma tadā nātha nīlakaṇṭha iti śrutaḥ | viṣaṃ pāsyasi no cettvaṃ bhasmībhūtāstadākhilāḥ
“Ó Senhor, então fomos protegidos; por isso és celebrado como Nīlakaṇṭha (o de garganta azul). Se não beberes este veneno, todos nós seremos reduzidos a cinzas de imediato.”
The devas (gods) appealing to Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Nīlakaṇṭha
Sthala Purana: The devas’ plea foregrounds Śiva’s role as cosmic protector; the epithet ‘Nīlakaṇṭha’ is presented as fame born from saving beings from annihilation.
Significance: Recitation is framed as apotropaic: invoking Nīlakaṇṭha for protection from collective danger, विष-दोष, and existential भय.
Type: stotra
Cosmic Event: Crisis at the emergence of halāhala during samudra-manthana
FAQs
It praises Śiva as the compassionate Pati (Lord) who absorbs the world-threatening poison into Himself, showing that divine grace protects all beings and that the Supreme can transmute विष (poison) into auspiciousness without being overcome by it.
The verse points to Saguna Śiva—worshipped as the Linga and as Nīlakaṇṭha—whose visible, personal act of protection becomes a basis for devotion (bhakti), gratitude, and surrender in Shiva-puja and linga-archana.
Meditate on Śiva as Nīlakaṇṭha while chanting the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), and adopt Shaiva purity practices such as Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa as reminders that Śiva burns impurities and protects the devotee.