Shloka 55
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
नियतात्मा महादेवमपश्यं सो<ब्रवीच्च माम् | पिता माता च ते त्वं च पुत्र मृत्युविवर्जिता:
niyatātmā mahādevam apaśyaṁ so 'bravīc ca mām | pitā mātā ca te tvaṁ ca putra mṛtyuvivarjitāḥ ||
மனத்தை அடக்கி அவன் மகாதேவரை தரிசித்தான்; அப்போது அவர் என்னிடம் கூறினார்— “நான் உனக்கு தந்தையும் தாயும்; நீ என் மகனாய் இருப்பாய்— மரணமற்றவன்.”
गालव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Self-mastery (niyama of the mind) is presented as a condition for divine encounter and divine favor; the verse frames Śiva’s grace as transforming human vulnerability—especially fear of death—into protection and spiritual assurance.
Gālava reports an episode in which a disciplined person beholds Mahādeva and then conveys a declaration to Gālava: a promise of intimate guardianship (as father and mother) and a boon-like assurance of being ‘free from death,’ emphasizing divine protection and blessing.