अध्याय ५५ — बाणस्य पुनर्युद्धप्रवृत्तिः
Bāṇa’s Renewed Engagement in Battle
सनत्कुमार उवाच । शृणु व्यास महाप्राज्ञ कथां च परमाद्भुताम् । कृष्णशंकरयोस्तात लोकलीलानुसारिणोः
sanatkumāra uvāca | śṛṇu vyāsa mahāprājña kathāṃ ca paramādbhutām | kṛṣṇaśaṃkarayostāta lokalīlānusāriṇoḥ
Sanatkumāra nói: “Hỡi Vyāsa, bậc đại trí giả, hãy nghe câu chuyện kỳ diệu nhất này—hỡi người thân yêu—về Kṛṣṇa và Śaṅkara, những vị thực hiện cuộc dạo chơi thần thánh của mình phù hợp với lề thói của thế gian.”
Sanatkumara
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
It frames the coming episode as “paramādbhutā” (supremely wondrous) and presents Kṛṣṇa and Śaṅkara as divine realities who, out of grace, participate in loka-līlā—making transcendent truth accessible to embodied beings through story.
By emphasizing Śaṅkara’s līlā “in accordance with the world,” the verse supports Saguna worship: Shiva compassionately assumes relatable modes for devotees—an outlook that undergirds devotion to the Liṅga as a tangible focus for approaching the transcendent Pati.
The practical takeaway is attentive śravaṇa (devotional listening) to Shiva-kathā; in Shaiva practice this is commonly paired with japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) to internalize the meaning of the narrative.