Shloka 6

Devanagari script

मम तेजो बल॑ भीम॑ वायोरपि हि नारद । कलामशष्टादशीं प्राणैर्न मे प्राप्रोति मारुत:,नारद! मेरा तेज और बल वायुसे भी भयंकर है। वायु अपनी प्राणशक्तिके द्वारा मेरी अठारहवीं कलाको भी नहीं पा सकता

Transliteration

mama tejo balaṁ bhīmaṁ vāyor api hi nārada | kalām aṣṭādaśīṁ prāṇair na me prāpnoti mārutaḥ ||

Translation

قال شالملي: «يا نارادا! إن بهائي وقوتي لَشديدان مهيبان، بل أعظم حتى من الريح. إن ماروتا، ولو استجمع كل قوة أنفاسه الحيّة، لا يبلغ حتى جزءًا من ثمانية عشر جزءًا من قدرتي.»

Word by Word

ममof me / my

तेजःsplendor, energy, might

बलम्strength

भीमम्terrible, formidable

वायोःof the wind (Vayu)

अपिeven, also

हिindeed, for

नारदO Narada

कलाम्a part, portion (digit/kalā)

अष्टादशीम्eighteenth

प्राणैःby (his) vital powers/breaths

नnot

मेof me / my

प्राप्नोतिattains, reaches

मारुतःthe Wind (Marut/Vayu)

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Vāyu

Māruta

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s theme that spiritual potency (tejas) gained through higher status or austerity can surpass even elemental forces like wind; it also implicitly warns that claims of superiority should be weighed against dharma, since power without restraint can become pride.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada speaks in a tone of assertion, comparing his own tejas and bala to Vāyu/Māruta and declaring that even the wind’s prāṇa-force cannot reach even a small fraction (one eighteenth) of his power—emphasizing a hierarchy of might within the cosmic order.