Shloka 21
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Kṛṣṇa’s Rudra-Cosmogony Explanation (सौप्तिक पर्व, अध्याय १७)
बहुरूपा: प्रजा: सृष्टा विवृद्धाश्व स्वतेजसा | चुक्रोध भगवान् रुद्रो लिड़ं स्वं चाप्यविध्यत
bahurūpāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭā vivṛddhāś ca svatejasā | cukrodha bhagavān rudro liṅgaṃ svaṃ cāpyavidhyata ||
众生形貌多端既已化生，又凭自身天赋光辉而大为昌盛。见此情状，吉祥的鲁陀罗勃然震怒，竟弃掷自身之林伽——此举昭示：当宇宙秩序被视为受扰之时，生殖与生成之力会以猛烈而破坏性的方式撤回。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between unchecked proliferation and cosmic balance: when creation expands powerfully on its own, Rudra’s fierce reaction symbolizes the need to restrain or withdraw generative force to restore order. Ethically, it points to governance of power—creation and destruction must be aligned with dharma (right order), not mere impulse.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that many kinds of beings were created and prospered by their own tejas. Rudra, seeing this state of affairs, becomes angry and casts away his own liṅga, a dramatic mythic act indicating a rupture or suspension of generative potency within the cosmic story.