गृणन्त्यविद्यापटलं बिभित्सवः ।
निरस्तसाम्यातिशयोऽपि यत्स्वयं
पिशाचचर्यामचरद्गतिः सताम् ॥२७॥
yasyÄnavadyÄcaritaá¹ manÄ«á¹£iṇo
gṛṇanty avidyÄ-paá¹alaá¹ bibhitsavaḥ
nirasta-sÄmyÄtiÅ›ayo 'pi yat svayaá¹
piÅ›Äca-caryÄm acarad gatiḥ satÄm
yasya - whose; anavadya - unimpeachable; Äcaritam - character; manÄ«á¹£iṇaḥ - great sages; gṛṇanti - follow; avidyÄ - nescience; paá¹alam - mass; bibhitsavaḥ - desiring to dismantle; nirasta - nullified; sÄmya - equality; atiÅ›ayaḥ - greatness; api - in spite of; yat - as; svayam - personally; piÅ›Äca - devil; caryÄm - activities; acarat - performed; gatiḥ - destination; satÄm - of the devotees of the Lord.
Although no one in the material world is equal to or greater than Lord Åšiva, and although his unimpeachable character is followed by great souls to dismantle the mass of nescience, he nevertheless remains as if a devil to give salvation to all devotees of the Lord.
Lord Åšiva’s uncivilized, devilish characteristics are never abominable because he teaches the sincere devotees of the Lord how to practice detachment from material enjoyment. He is called MahÄdeva, or the greatest of all demigods, and no one is equal to or greater than him in the material world. He is almost equal with Lord Viṣṇu. Although he always associates with MÄyÄ, DurgÄ, he is above the reactionary stage of the three modes of material nature, and although he is in charge of devilish characters in the mode of ignorance, he is not affected by such association.
