Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration
Anuśāsana-parva 17
अधर्षणो धर्षणात्मा यज्ञहा कामनाशक: । दक्षयागापहारी च सुसहो मध्यमस्तथा
adharṣaṇo dharṣaṇātmā yajñahā kāmanāśakaḥ | dakṣayāgāpahārī ca susaho madhyamas tathā ||
বায়ুদেৱে ক’লে— “তেওঁ অধর্ষণ (অজেয়), তথাপি অন্যক দমন কৰা শক্তিস্বৰূপ; দক্ষৰ যজ্ঞ ধ্বংসকাৰী আৰু কাম (কামদেৱ) বিনাশকাৰী। দক্ষ-যাগৰ অপহর্তা/বিঘ্নকাৰীও তেওঁ—তথাপি তেওঁ পৰম সহিষ্ণু আৰু মধ্যস্থভাৱে স্থিত।”
वायुदेव उवाच
The verse presents a paradoxical ideal of divine authority: the same being who can shatter prideful or misdirected ritual (Dakṣa’s sacrifice) and burn away desire (Kāma) is also deeply patient and balanced. Ethical force is not mere aggression; it is disciplined power guided by restraint and the capacity to restore equilibrium.
Vāyu is describing a supreme figure (implicitly Śiva/Rudra in the Dakṣa-yajña and Kāma episodes) by listing epithets: invincible, overpowering, destroyer/disruptor of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, destroyer of Kāma, yet also supremely tolerant and a mediator. The description situates the figure within well-known Purāṇic-style episodes referenced inside the Mahābhārata’s ethical discourse.