उपनिषद् · Rudrahṛdaya 3
॥
देवनागरी
कस्य शुश्रूषणान्नित्यं प्रीता देवा भवन्ति मे । तस्य तद्वचनं श्रुत्वा प्रत्युवाच पिता शुकम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
kasya śuśrūṣaṇānnityaṃ prītā devā bhavanti me | tasya tadvacanaṃ śrutvā pratyuvāca pitā śukam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
कस्य शुश्रूषणात् नित्यंkasya śuśrūṣaṇāt nityaṃ"by whose service always
प्रीताः देवाः भवन्ति मेprītāḥ devāḥ bhavanti meare the gods pleased through me?"
तस्य तत्-वचनं श्रुत्वाtasya tat-vacanaṃ śrutvāhaving heard that speech of his
प्रत्युवाच पिता शुकम्pratyuvāca pitā śukamthe father answered Śuka
अनुवाद
"'By whose service are the gods always pleased through me?' Having heard that speech of his, the father answered Śuka."
संस्करण
0707e515348e · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The second half of the question is even more precise than the first: kasya śuśrūṣaṇāt, "by whose service." Śuśrūṣā means "attendance, care, service"; and this word, worth noting, is derived from śru, "to hear," in the desiderative form: literally "the wish to hear." That is, service is named by the same root as listening — and in this the whole thought of where service begins is visible.
Śuka does not ask "whom to worship," but "whom to serve," and not for his own sake: prītā devā bhavanti me, "so that the gods may be pleased through me." This framing is ordinary and touching: the one asking does not want to offend anyone, but cannot tear himself into pieces for everyone either. Anyone who has lived among many forms of worship knows this difficulty: honor one, and you neglect another.
The answer that now follows is, in fact, an answer to exactly this. It will say: there is one who is worshiped, and in worshiping him you worship all; and the hostility among worshipers is a misunderstanding. The Vaiṣṇava side calls her own service by this same word śuśrūṣā, and the Gītā places it alongside prostration and inquiry as a way to obtain knowledge (4.34). The first thing demanded of a pupil is not aptitude and not austerity, but readiness to listen and to serve.