Shiva Chooses from a Hundred Crore Stories
Bala Kanda, Doha 25
Doha 25 · Movement 2 of 2
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Imagine a treasury vast enough to contain a hundred crore tellings of Ram, every chamber bright with deeds, virtues, sorrows, victories, forests, palaces, and the faces of devotees. Shiva enters that immeasurable abundance not as one bewildered by riches, but as the knower who recognizes the essence.
From the ocean of sacred episodes he chooses the Name. The selection does not diminish the stories. It gathers their living power into a sound that can dwell upon every tongue. The giver of boons himself receives this treasure, and through it the Name grants blessing even to those before whom the worlds ask blessings.
In Shiva's stillness, the smallest utterance holds the weight of the whole Manas.
From a hundred crore stories, Shiva lifts two syllables to his lips.
Read the passage from the Manas
AI-created devotional illustration · Doha 25
Shiva contemplates inwardly with a hand over the covered heart, evoking Mahesha's discerning remembrance.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 49 · printed pages 47. Reader passage: bala-kanda-doha-026. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- Name praised as giver of boons, greater than Brahman and Rama in the poet's account
- Mahesha discerns/holds the Name in his heart within the vast Rama narrative
Artistic choices
- One iconic Shiva selects inward contemplation, not a reconstructed textual extraction or miracle
- Conventional face, complexion, jata, crescent, third eye, ash, serpent, trident, drapes, beads, gestures, garden and pavilions imagined
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
ब्रह्म राम तें नामु बड़ बर दायक बर दानि। रामचरित सत कोटि महँ लिय महेस जियँ जानि।।25।।
The Name is greater than both Brahman and Ram. It bestows boons even upon the givers of boons. Maheshvara knew this in his heart and chose the Name from among the hundred crore episodes of Ram's story.