Shloka 10

Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

शक्तितश्नरितं वक्ष्ये प्रसादात्‌ तस्य धीमत: । अप्राप्य तु ततो<नुज्ञां न शक्‍्यः स्तोतुमी श्वरः

Transliteration

śaktitaḥ saṅkṣiptaṁ vakṣye prasādāt tasya dhīmataḥ | aprāpya tu tato 'nujñāṁ na śakyaḥ stotum īśvaraḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu sprach: „Gestützt auf meine begrenzte Kraft will ich—allein durch die gnädige Gunst jenes weisen Mahādeva—einen knappen Bericht über seine Taten und einen Hymnus zu seinem Lob darlegen. Doch ohne zuvor seine Erlaubnis zu erlangen, ist es nicht möglich, jenen höchsten Herrn zu preisen.“

Word by Word

• {'śaktitaḥ': 'according to one’s ability

• to the extent of one’s power', 'saṅkṣiptam': 'briefly

• in condensed form', 'vakṣye': 'I shall speak

• I will describe', 'prasādāt': 'by grace

• through favor', 'tasya': 'of him (here, Mahādeva/Īśvara)', 'dhīmataḥ': 'of the wise one

• of the intelligent', 'aprāpya': 'without obtaining

• not having received', 'anujñām': 'permission

• authorization', 'na śakyaḥ': 'is not possible

• cannot be done', 'stotum': 'to praise

• to hymn', 'īśvaraḥ': 'the Lord

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Mahādeva
• Īśvara
• Maheśvara

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True praise of the Divine should be grounded in humility and divine grace; one should not presume entitlement to extol the Lord without proper sanction, emphasizing reverence, restraint, and dependence on the deity’s favor.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva introduces his intention to narrate Mahādeva’s character and a hymn, stating he will do so only briefly and only by Mahādeva’s grace, while stressing that praising Īśvara is not possible without first receiving the Lord’s permission.