Text 19
tad ugra-vegaṁ diśi diśy upary adho
visarpad utsarpad asahyam aprati
bhītāḥ prajā dudruvur aṅga seśvarā
arakṣyamāṇāḥ śaraṇaṁ sadāśivam
tat — that; ugra-vegam — very fierce and potent poison; diśi diśi — in all directions; upari — upward; adhaḥ — downward; visarpat — curling; utsarpat — going upward; asahyam — unbearable; aprati — uncontrollable; bhītāḥ — being very much afraid; prajāḥ — the residents of all the worlds; dudruvuḥ — moved here and there; aṅga — O Mahārāja Parīkṣit; sa-īśvarāḥ — with the Supreme Lord; arakṣyamāṇāḥ — not being protected; śaraṇam — shelter; sadāśivam — unto the lotus feet of Lord Śiva.
O King, when that uncontrollable poison was forcefully spreading up and down in all directions, all the demigods, along with the Lord Himself, approached Lord Śiva [Sadāśiva]. Feeling unsheltered and very much afraid, they sought shelter of him.
One may question that since the Supreme Personality of Godhead was personally present, why did He accompany all the demigods and people in general to take shelter of Lord Sadāśiva instead of intervening Himself. In this connection Śrīla Madhvācārya warns:
rudrasya yaśaso ’rthāya
svayaṁ viṣṇur viṣaṁ vibhuḥ
na sañjahre samartho ’pi
vāyuṁ coce praśāntaye
Lord Viṣṇu was competent to rectify the situation, but in order to give credit to Lord Śiva, who later drank all the poison and kept it in his neck, Lord Viṣṇu did not take action.