Devanagari
अयं तु लोकपालानां यशोघ्नो निरपत्रप: ।
सद्भिराचरित: पन्था येन स्तब्धेन दूषित: ॥ १० ॥
Verse text
ayaṁ tu loka-pālānāṁ
yaśo-ghno nirapatrapaḥ
sadbhir ācaritaḥ panthā
yena stabdhena dūṣitaḥ
Synonyms
ayam
—
he (Śiva)
;
tu
—
but
;
loka
—
pālānām — of the governors of the universe
;
yaśaḥ
—
ghnaḥ — spoiling the fame
;
nirapatrapaḥ
—
shameless
;
sadbhiḥ
—
by those of gentle manner
;
ācaritaḥ
—
followed
;
panthāḥ
—
the path
;
yena
—
by whom (Śiva)
;
stabdhena
—
being devoid of proper actions
;
dūṣitaḥ
—
is polluted .
Translation
Śiva has spoiled the name and fame of the governors of the universe and has polluted the path of gentle manners. Because he is shameless, he does not know how to act.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Being shameless, Śiva has destroyed the fame of the protectors of the planets, because the most proud Śiva has polluted the path followed by the well bred.
Hear with attention about his bad conduct. He destroys the fame of the protectors of the planets. By unsteadiness of one person among many of equal status, people will criticize all. However by the skill of Sarasvatī, Dakṣa’s words have another meaning, praising Śiva. By his own fame, Śiva derides the fame of all others. Nirapatrapaḥ means shameless but can also mean “one who gives shelter to those without deliverance.” The path followed by the well mannered is spoiled by destruction (dhvastena) by the demons (yena). Another version has stabdhena. Then the meaning is “he is without shame because the path followed by the well mannered is spoiled by the best of the proud (stabha ina –duṣitāḥ).
Purport
Dakṣa wanted to impress upon the minds of all the great sages assembled in that meeting that Śiva, being one of the demigods, had ruined the good reputations of all the demigods by his unmannerly behavior. The words used against Lord Śiva by Dakṣa can also be understood in a different way, in a good sense. For example, he stated that Śiva is
yaśo-ghna,
which means “one who spoils name and fame.” So this can also be interpreted to mean that he was so famous that his fame killed all other fame. Again, Dakṣa used the word
nirapatrapa,
which also can be used in two senses. One sense is “one who is stunted,” and another sense is “one who is the maintainer of persons who have no other shelter.” Generally Lord Śiva is known as the lord of the
bhūtas,
or lower grade of living creatures. They take shelter of Lord Śiva because he is very kind to everyone and is very quickly satisfied. Therefore he is called Āśutoṣa. To such men, who cannot approach other demigods or Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva gives shelter. Therefore the word
nirapatrapa
can be used in that sense.