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 ||
Sinabi ni Viṣṇu: “Ang Araw at ang Buwan; ang Hangin at ang Apoy; ang Langit at ang Lupa; ang mga Tubig; ang mga Vasu at ang mga Viśvedevas; sina Dhātṛ at Aryaman; sina Śukra at Bṛhaspati; ang mga Rudra kasama ang mga Sādhya; at si Varuṇa—alamin ninyong ang lahat ng kapangyarihang banal na ito ay mga pagpapakita na nagmumula kay Mahādeva.”
वायुदेव उवाच
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.