Was Lord Shiva present in the Virat Swaroopa of Lord Krishna that Arjuna witnessed in the Mahabharata?

Was Lord Shiva present in the Virat Swaroopa of Lord Krishna that Arjuna witnessed in the Mahabharata? Simple answer- yes. So there are some claims made by some people that Shiva was not in the Vishwaroop of Shri Krishna by misinterpreting few verses. This is done by these people to basically show that Shiva is the presiding governing deity of the Gita. We shall address this issue with the statements from the Gita and Mahabharata itself. CLAIM 1- so in this verse Bhagwad Gita 11.15 arjuna uvaca pasyami devams tava deva dehe sarvams tatha bhuta-visesa-sanghan brahmanam isam kamalasana-stham rsims ca sarvan uragams ca divyan so according to Shaivas , the word Isam is between Brahmanam and Kamalasana which means Isam here does not mean Shiva but it means that Brahma the Lord of all creatures (Isam) who sits on a lotus was present in the Vishwaroop. They justify this claim with the help of Shankaracharya’s statement- “I see Brahma, the Lord of all Creatures (Isham), seated on the lotus”. REFUTATION 1- Well the same Adi Shankaracharya in his Bhasya of Gita says in Verse 6.47 that worship of Vasudeva is superior to the worship of Rudra and other gods. Adi Shankaracharya Bhasya (Verse 6.47) even, among all the yogis, among those who are immersed in meditation on Rudra, Aditya, and others, he who;, adores; Me; with his mind;, fixed on Me, concentrated on Me who am Vasudeva; with faith, he is considered; me, by Me; to be, the best of the yogis, engaged in Yoga most intensely. Why dont you also accept that? Well again if you might think that this is Rudra and not Shiva. Yes there are 11 Rudras and Shiva is the leader of all 11 Rudras but the term “Shankara” refers to the husband of Parvati and father of Karthikeya which is also made quite clear by the Admin of Bhagwan Shiva Mahadeva space, Lopamudra in this answer Profile photo for Lopamudra Lopamudra · May 28 What is the meaning of Shankara in Sanskrit? ॐ नमः शिबाय । ॐ शंकराय​ नमः । I would love to answer this, which is about Bhagawan Shiva and Deva Bhasha Samskruta, both of whom, I adore heartily. —————————————————————————————- Sam Karoti Iti - Shankara / शम् करोति इति - शंकर​ Sam / शम् + Kara / कर​ = Shankara / शंकर​. Sham here refers to the good or welfare. Kara / कर​ is doing. शम् करोति इति - शंकर​ . One who does the welfare of all, does good for all is called Shankara / शंकर​. So, Lord Mahadeva, the auspicious Merciful God Shiva, who is ever ready and ever effortful for the welfare of the creation or Jagat Kalyana is called Shankara, one who does good of all. So Shambhu Stuti offers Vandana/ describes him as - Namami Shambhum Purusham Puranam नममि शम्भुम् पुरुषम् पुराणम् ! Namami Bishwasya Hite Ratam Tam. नमामि बिश्वस्य हिते रतम् तम् !! Meaning - Namami/ नमामि Bowing down. To You (Tam) . Who is ever into/ever busy in (Ratam) , Bishwa / बिश्व (Universe), Sya / स्य (possessive denoting of the Vishwa). Hite / हिते (From word Hita / हित​ or welfare, Hite means (busy) with or in the Hita ). I am bowing down to you, O Shambhu, Who is ever effortful for the creation’s welfare. His Shri-Kantha / श्री-कन्ठ meaning beautiful divine neck is still blue from drinking horrible poison to save the creation. Shivasthakam describes him beautifully as - Nilaabja Kantha Sadrusaya Namah Shivaya !! नीलाब्ज​​ कन्ठ सद्रुषाय नमः शिबाय !! Nila / नील​ is Blue and Abja / अब्ज​​ is a Lotus. It is a sandhi word of Ap / अप् and Ja / ज​ (Ap means water and Ja means born from ). So, अप् + ज​ = अब्ज​. So, नीलाब्ज​​ is again a Sandhi word ( नील+ अब्ज​​) which denotes Blue Lotus and Kantha / कन्ठ is neck or throat. सद्रुष means resembling, alike or similar in appearance. So, it says, - He, whose Kantha/neck looks/appears like, resembles a Blue Lotus, to that Ishwara Bhagawan Shiva, the ever auspicious, I bow down. ———————————————————————————————————————— ॐ नमः शिबाय । ॐ शंकराय​ नमः । Also Karna Parva very clearly refers to Rudra as the destroyer of Tripura meaning that it is Shankara who is being referred to here kapardI jalo mundaH shmashAnagR^ihasevakaH ugravratadharorudro yogI tripuradAruNaH dakShakratuharashchaiva bhaganetraharastathA. Rudra has braided hair with knot of an ascecand rest of the head bald. He dwells in the home of graveyard, steadfast on vigorous penance as a yogi. He is ferocious to Tripurasuras, destroyed Daksayajna and took away the eyes of Bhaga. Bhagwan Shri Krishna makes it even more clear that he is Shankara among the Rudras. Bhagwad Gita verse 10.23 रुद्राणां शङ्करश्चास्मि वित्तेशो यक्षरक्षसाम् | वसूनां पावकश्चास्मि मेरु: शिखरिणामहम् || 23|| Amongst the rudras know Me to be Shankar; amongst the semi-celestial beings and demons I am Kuber. I am Agni amongst the vasus and Meru amongst the mountains. Lord Shiva himself states that this Shankara refers to himself (Umapati) - Credits for this verse (Srinivasa Bhakta) Harivamsha Parva akSharANAmakArastvaM sphoTastvaM varNasaMshrayaH | rudrANAmahamevAsi vasUnAM pAvako bhavAn || Among the letters, you are the letter a. You are the eternal sound, sphoTa based on which the combination of vowels derive the meaning . Among the rudra-s, you are me (shiva). Among the vasu-s, you are the fire (agni). CLAIM 2- The word Maheshwara here means Lord Shiva. Bhagavad Gita 13.23 upadraṣhṭānumantā cha bhartā bhoktā maheśhvaraḥ paramātmeti chāpy ukto dehe ’smin puruṣhaḥ paraḥ REFUTATION 2- Arre Maheshwara does NOT mean Shiva here. Maheshwara/Mahadeva is a common noun. Maheshwara simply means Maha + Ishwara or the great lord. That way even the term Mahadev is credited to Vishnu in his Sahasranama. Mahadev/Maheshwar simply means the great lord. It can easily be used for Shri Vishnu too. Vishnu Sahasranama Anushasan Parva - 491st name of Lord Vishnu evo mahādevo deveśo devabhṛd guruḥ Mahabharata Svargohanika Parva Sanctified by death caused by weapons, those high-souled beings of prosperity all suc- ceeded in attaining to Heaven. Both Kshattri and king Yudhishthira entered into the god of Righteousness. The holy and illustrious Ananta (who had taken birth as Balarama) proceeded to the region below the Earth. Through the command of the Grandsire, he, aided by his Yoga power, supported the Earth. Vasudeva was a portion of that eter-nal god of gods called Narayana. the name Shambu can be used for Narayana by this logic. Arghyaharana Parva And knowing, O son of the Kuru race, that that was a concourse (of incarnate) gods, Narada thought in his mind of Hari with eyes like lotus-petals. He knew that that creator himself of every object one, that exalted of all gods--Narayana--who had formerly commanded the celestials, saying,--'Be ye born on earth and slay one another and come back to heaven'--that slayer of all the enemies of the gods, that subjugator of all hostile towns, in order to fulfil his own promise, had been born in the Kshatriya order. And Narada knew that the exalted and holy Narayana also called Sambhu the lord of the universe, having commanded all the celestials thus, had taken his birth in the race of Yadus and that foremost of all perpetuator of races, having sprung from the line of the Andhaka-Vrishnis on earth was graced with great good fortune and was shining like the moon herself among stars. CLAIM -3 Shri Krishna had a connection with Shiva, who is Kala and it was Shiva who appeared as the Vishwaroop. Bhagavad Gita: 11.32 śhrī-bhagavān uvācha kālo ’smi loka-kṣhaya-kṛit pravṛiddho lokān samāhartum iha pravṛittaḥ ṛite ’pi tvāṁ na bhaviṣhyanti sarve ye ’vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣhu yodhāḥ The Supreme Lord said: I am mighty Time, the source of destruction that comes forth to annihilate the worlds. Even without your participation, the warriors arrayed in the opposing army shall cease to exist. REFUTATION-3 no beta… Kalosmi very much means that Shri Krishna himself is Kala or time. Mahabharata Anushasana Parva very very clearly says that the time which destroys everything is Hari (Krishna) Thou shouldst remember, however, O chastiser of foes, that it is not right to violate a pledge. All those who have fallen on the field of battle have really been slain by Time. Verily, all of us have been slain by Time. Time is, indeed, all-powerful. Thou art fully conversant with the puissance of Time. Afflicted by Time, it does not behove thee to grieve. Know that Krishna Himself, otherwise called Hari, is that Time with blood-red eyes and with club in hand. For these reasons, O son of Kunti, it does not behove thee to grieve for thy (slain) kinsfolk. Be thou always free, O delighter of the Kurus, from grief. Thou hast heard of the glory and greatness of Madhava as recited by me. Mahabharata Udyoga Parva Kesava, by the power of his soul causeth the wheel of Time, the wheel of the Universe, and thewheel of the Yuga, to revolve incessantly. And I tell thee truly that glorious Being is alone the Lord of Time, of Death, and of this Universe of mobile and immobile objects. That great ascetic Hari, though the Lord of the whole Universe, still betaketh himself to work, like a humblelabourer that tilleth the fields. Indeed, Kesava beguileth all by the aidof His illusion. Those men, however, that have attained to Him are not deceived.