Shloka 27

Śatarudrīya-prabhāva and Rudra’s Supremacy (शतरुद्रीयप्रभावः)

Devanagari script

आते ही मनोहर हास्यवाली देवी उमाने मनोरंजन या हास-परिहासके लिये मुसकराकर अपने दोनों हाथोंसे सहसा भगवान्‌ शंकरके दोनों नेत्र बंद कर लिये ।।

Transliteration

saṃvṛtābhyāṃ tu netrābhyāṃ tamo-bhūtam acetanaṃ | nihomaṃ nirvaṣaṭkāraṃ jagad vai sahasābhavat ||

Translation

那罗陀说道：当主宰的双眼忽然被遮蔽之时，整个世界立刻陷入黑暗，众生失却知觉，诸般神圣仪轨亦告断绝——不再有火供祭献，也不再听见“vaṣaṭ”的呼号。

Word by Word

• संवृताभ्याम्: by the two covered (ones)
• संवृताभ्याम्: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संवृत (सम्+वृ धातु, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसक, तृतीया, द्विवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• नेत्राभ्याम्: by (his) two eyes
• नेत्राभ्याम्: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नेत्र
• Form: नपुंसक, तृतीया, द्विवचन

• तमोभूतम्: become darkness/darkened
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तमोभूत (तमस्+भूत)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अचेतनम्: unconscious, without awareness
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अचेतन
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• निर्होमम्: without oblations/sacrificial offering
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्होम (निर्+होम)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• निर्वषट्कारम्: without the vaṣaṭ-utterance
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्वषट्कार (निर्+वषट्कार)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• जगत्: the world
• जगत्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत्
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• सहसा: suddenly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहसा

• अभवत्: became
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: लङ् (imperfect), प्रथम, एकवचन

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• Śaṅkara (Śiva)
• the world (jagat)
• homa (fire-offering)
• vaṣaṭkāra (ritual exclamation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.