मीढुष्टम शिवतम शिवो नः सुमना भव।

परमे वृक्ष आयुधं निधाय कृत्तिं वसान आ चर पिनाकं बिभ्रदा गहि॥

mīḍhuṣṭama śivatama śivo naḥ sumanā bhava |

parame vṛkṣa āyudhaṁ nidhāya kṛttiṁ vasāna ā cara pinākaṁ bibhradā gahi || (10:10)

Meaning:

O most bounteous, most auspicious and fulfiller of our desires, please be good to us. Please place all your weapons in the highest tree, wear your tiger skin and come to us along with your pināka only, as an ornament in your hands (not with arrows.)

Notes:

Rudra is known for His anger, as He does not hesitate to destroy perpetual sinners. At the same time, He is bounteous and auspicious; hence He is also known as Śiva, which means auspicious, propitious, gracious, favourable, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly, dear, etc. The devotee prays to Him to leave His weaponries aside and appear before him in His auspicious form, the form of Shiva. The devotee wants to have His darśan with His famous tiger skin and His pināka, the bow. At the same time, devotee does not want Him to carry arrows along with His pināka (to be construed as bow here). Pināka is also known as His famous triśūla or trident. Indirectly, the devotee wants to be with Shiva, the final Liberation from transmigration.

विकिरिद विलोहित नमस्ते अस्तु भगवः।

यास्ते सहस्र हेतयोऽन्यमस्मिन्नि वयन्तु ताः॥

vikirida vilohita namaste astu bhagavaḥ |

yāste sahasra hetayo'nyamasminni vayantu tāḥ || (10:11)

Meaning:

O Bhagavān! Scatterer of wealth and red in complexion, salutations to You. Let Your countless arrows destroy our enemies, not us.

Notes:

The devotee is becoming closer to the Lord and is able to have His darśan now. The devotee sees Him as red complexioned, auspicious and as śānta svarūpī (benign form). The devotee prays to Him to destroy his enemies and seeks for a peaceful, auspicious and comfortable living. Enemies also means desires, attachments and all other sensory afflictions. Unless the mind is purified, spiritual progress cannot be pursued to its logical conclusion. Patañjali in his Yoga Sūtra (II.28) says, “By the practice of different parts of yoga, the impurities are being destroyed, knowledge becomes effulgent up to discrimination.”  Therefore, mind can be purified by constant practice. Practice here means retraction and withdrawal of mind from thought processes.  When one does not have desires and attachments, there cannot be any thoughts. This is called sādhana or spiritual practice. There is no point in doing any kind of worship without controlling the mind. Vivekachūḍāmaṇi (verse 23) says that turning both kinds of sense organs (organs of action and organs of perception) away from objects and placing them in the respective centres is the best way for self-control.  Kaṭha Upaniṣad (II.i.1) also says, “Brahman has created the sense organs with the inherent defect that are by nature outgoing. The one who wants to attain the Brahman can withdraw his sense organs from external objects and turn to the Self within.”  Undoubtedly, controlling senses is tough job.  But for a true spiritual aspirant nothing is difficult, as he will have immense willpower. Spirituality cannot be pursued without willpower and sacrifice. The devotee sincerely prays for His Grace to help him to quieten the mind and to attain Liberation.

महस्राणि महस्रधा बाहुवोस्तव हेतयः।

तासामीशानो भगवः पराचीना मुखा कृधि॥

mahasrāṇi mahasradhā bāhuvostava hetayaḥ |

tāsāmīśāno bhagavaḥ parācīnā mukhā kṛdhi || (10:12)

Meaning:

O Lord! You have countless and different weapons in Your hands. O Lord! Please turn these missiles away from us.

Notes:

At the end of this anuvāka, His devotees again seek Rudra’s Grace in not hurting them. Prayer is to eradicate both internal and external enemies. They request Him to turn away the sharp edges of His weaponries towards the enemies, which indirectly seeks their protection.

The man with self-control, without desires and aversions with subjugated senses and still associated with material objects attains internal calmness.  If internal clarity is attained, all his grief will be annihilated.  His knowledge soon becomes well established in the Supreme Self. The one who could not control his mind and senses will never have preternatural intelligence.  The person with such intangible intellect shall never have professed mind that never leads to peace.   A man without mental peace can never have happiness (Bhagavad Gītā)

End of anuvāka 10