Mahādeva Stava
The Mahādeva Stava is the hymn of praise that Arjuna offered to Bhagavān Śiva after the great battle with the Kirāta on the Himālaya, when Śiva showed himself from beneath the disguise of the Kirāta hunter. Arjuna bowed to the ground and praised Śiva with many of his holy names, among them Kapardī, Pinākī, Tryambaka, Śūlapāṇī, Bhava and Śaṅkara. It is found in the Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, chapter 39. After it Arjuna received the Pāśupatāstra.
The setting
Arjuna had used up all his weapons against the Kirāta, who was Bhagavān Śiva himself. His quiver was empty, his bow was broken and his sword was shattered. He threw rocks and tore up trees, and even his bare fists were of no use.
Then Arjuna made a small clay image of Śiva and offered it flowers. When he looked up, the garland he had placed on the clay image was on the head of the Kirāta. At that moment the disguise fell away.
Śiva stood revealed. He is the Mahāyogī, the destroyer of the three cities, the master of all beings, and Pārvatī was with him. The forest blazed with his presence. Arjuna was overcome and fell to the ground.
The hymn
Arjuna rose and praised Śiva in a hymn of many names and qualities. Each name calls to mind a different side of the supreme Being.
- Kapardī means “the one with matted locks”. It speaks of Śiva’s matted hair (jaṭā), in which the Gaṅgā is held. The great master wears the cosmic river in his hair.
- Pinākī means “the bearer of the Pināka bow”. The Pināka is Śiva’s great bow, a weapon of cosmic size. The one who bears it is master of all archery. Arjuna, the greatest archer in the world, thus salutes the supreme archer.
- Tryambaka means “the three-eyed one”. Śiva’s third eye, in the middle of his forehead, is the eye of wisdom and fire. With this eye Śiva burned Kāma, the deva of desire, to ashes. It stands for the vision that sees beyond duality.
- Śūlapāṇī means “the bearer of the trident”. The triśūla (trident) is one of Śiva’s best-known weapons and signs. It stands for his three powers: will (icchā), knowledge (jñāna) and action (kriyā).
- Bhava means “pure existence” or “being itself”. It is one of Śiva’s names as one of the Ekādaśa Rudras (the eleven Rudras). The name says that Śiva is not only one being among beings but the ground of being itself.
- Śaṅkara means “the auspicious one” or “the cause of what is auspicious”. The root śam means well-being, peace and bliss. Śaṅkara is the one who gives all of these.
Arjuna spoke of Śiva’s nature as the supreme reality beneath all creation. Śiva destroys ignorance. He dances in the cremation ground, which shows that even dissolution is a sacred dance. He is the master of the north (Uttareśvara) and the master of all beings (Paśupati). He appears as Time to those whose puṇya (merit) is spent, and as Grace to those whose hearts are pure.
Arjuna called Śiva Pinākī because Śiva had just shown that his bow was greater than Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva. He called him Tryambaka because Śiva’s divine sight had seen through Arjuna’s whole battle. He called him Paśupati because Śiva had just shown complete mastery over Arjuna, who was like a paśu (a bound creature) in the fight.
What followed
Śiva was pleased with the hymn and with the sincerity of Arjuna’s surrender. He gave him the Pāśupatāstra. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, chapter 39)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, chapter 39