Shloka 23

Āśvamedha-dīkṣā-nirdeśaḥ — Scheduling the Initiation and Assigning Protection for the Horse

Devanagari script

वायुदेव उवाच त्वमेवैतन्महाबाहो वक्तुमर्हस्थरिंदम । त्वं गति: सर्वभूतानामिति मे निश्चिता मतिः

Transliteration

Vāyudeva uvāca: tvam evaitat mahābāho vaktum arhasi ariṃdama | tvaṃ gatiḥ sarvabhūtānām iti me niścitā matiḥ ||

Translation

বায়ুদেৱে ক’লে— হে মহাবাহু, হে শত্ৰুদমন! এই কথা ক’বলৈ যোগ্য একমাত্ৰ তুমিয়েই। মোৰ দৃঢ় বিশ্বাস— তুমিয়েই সকলো জীৱৰ আশ্ৰয় আৰু আধাৰ।

Word by Word

• {'vāyudevaḥ': 'the Wind-god (Vāyu), a divine speaker', 'uvāca': 'said, spoke', 'tvam eva': 'you alone', 'etat': 'this (matter/teaching)', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (honorific epithet of a hero/king)', 'vaktum': 'to speak, to explain', 'arhasi': 'you are worthy/fit (to do so)', 'ariṃdama': 'O tamer of enemies, subduer of foes', 'gatiḥ': 'refuge, goal, ultimate resort

• also ‘support’ in context', 'sarvabhūtānām': 'of all beings/creatures', 'iti': 'thus, ‘that’ (quotative marker)', 'me': 'my', 'niścitā': 'settled, firmly ascertained', 'matiḥ': 'thought, conviction, understanding'}

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva (Vāyu)
• Mahābāhu (epithet of the addressed hero/king)
• Ariṃdama (epithet of the addressed hero/king)
• Sarvabhūta (all beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms moral-spiritual authority: the truly qualified person should speak on profound matters, and the addressed hero is praised as the ‘gati’—the refuge/support—of all beings, emphasizing responsibility, protection, and dharmic leadership.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses a celebrated warrior-king with honorific epithets, urging him to speak on the matter at hand and expressing firm confidence that he serves as the sustaining refuge for all creatures.