ŚLOKA 15 / 100

A bold question about destiny

upekṣā no cetkiṃ na harasi bhavaddhyānavimukhāṃdurāśābhūyiṣṭhāṃ vidhilipimaśakto yadi bhavān ;śirastadvaidhātraṃ na na khalu suvṛttaṃ paśupatekathaṃ vā niryatnaṃ karanakhamukhenaiva lulitam . 15 .

About these study notes: English meanings and explanations were generated with AI assistance and have not been independently reviewed by a Sanskrit scholar. Sanskrit text follows the cited source editions.

A phrase at a time.

Follow the words into meaning. Select a phrase to locate it in the verse above. Read the quarters together for the full sentence.

Sringeri IAST text · source wording and line-break hyphens retained. English glosses follow the connected Sanskrit sense.

These four study units follow the printed quarters. Sentences and compounds can continue across a line break; read the whole verse for connected meaning. The source wording stays unchanged.

Source-linked study entries
Selected phraseMeaning in context

If you are not indifferent, why not remove the writing of destiny that turns me from meditation on you?

Key expressions in this quarter: upekṣā — indifference; dhyāna — meditation.

That writing is crowded with fruitless hopes; if you say you lack the power.

Key expressions in this quarter: durāśā — misdirected or futile hope; vidhilipi — writing of destiny.

Was the creator's head really beyond your reach, O Lord of beings?

Key expressions in this quarter: śiras — head; vaidhātra — belonging to the creator.

How, then, was it effortlessly severed by the tip of your fingernail?

Key expressions in this quarter: niryatnam — without effort; karanakha — fingernail.

A bold question about destiny

If you are not indifferent, why not remove the writing of destiny that turns me from meditation on you? That writing is crowded with fruitless hopes; if you say you lack the power. Was the creator's head really beyond your reach, O Lord of beings? How, then, was it effortlessly severed by the tip of your fingernail?

How the verse unfolds.

The poet challenges Shiva through a remembered mythic deed. The apparent argument is deliberately intimate: one who could humble the creator can surely alter the devotee's limiting destiny. The force of the verse lies in its appeal for freedom to meditate, not in hostility toward another deity.

EDITORIAL EXPLANATION · NOT A TRADITIONAL COMMENTARY

Which habitual expectation keeps turning my attention away from practice?

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Connected themes

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Associated Tattva

Grace and approach

The poet invokes Shiva’s power over the creator while asking that a destiny obstructing meditation be removed. The bold argument seeks freedom for devotion.

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A phrase, a question, a moment of understanding

Which habitual expectation keeps turning my attention away from practice?

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