Shloka 27
Śatarudrīya-prabhāva and Rudra’s Supremacy (शतरुद्रीयप्रभावः)
आते ही मनोहर हास्यवाली देवी उमाने मनोरंजन या हास-परिहासके लिये मुसकराकर अपने दोनों हाथोंसे सहसा भगवान् शंकरके दोनों नेत्र बंद कर लिये ।।
saṃvṛtābhyāṃ tu netrābhyāṃ tamo-bhūtam acetanaṃ | nihomaṃ nirvaṣaṭkāraṃ jagad vai sahasābhavat ||
Nārada nói: Khi đôi mắt của Đấng Tối Thượng bị che phủ đột ngột, toàn thể thế gian lập tức chìm trong bóng tối, mất hẳn tri giác, và vắng bóng mọi nghi lễ thiêng—không còn lễ tế lửa, cũng không còn vang lên tiếng hô “vaṣaṭ”.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dependence of cosmic stability and dharmic life on the sustaining divine presence: when that sustaining ‘vision’ is obstructed, darkness and the cessation of sacred order (ritual activity) follow. It also implies ethical caution—seemingly playful actions can have disproportionate consequences when they affect what upholds the world.
In the Śiva–Umā episode narrated by Nārada, Śiva’s eyes are suddenly covered, and immediately the cosmos becomes dark and inert; Vedic rites cease, symbolized by the absence of homa and the vaṣaṭ-call.