Shloka 34
Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration
Anuśāsana-parva 17
अभिवाद्यो महाकर्मा तपस्वी भूतभावन: । उन्मत्तवेषप्रच्छन्न: सर्वलोकप्रजापति:
abhivādyo mahākarmā tapasvī bhūtabhāvanaḥ | unmattaveṣa-pracchannaḥ sarvaloka-prajāpatiḥ ||
„Er ist würdig ehrfürchtiger Verehrung—vollbringer großer Taten, standhaft in Askese; Erzeuger und Erhalter der Wesen. Unter der Verkleidung eines Wahnsinnigen bleibt er verborgen und schützt die Untertanen aller Welten.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that reverence should be guided by inner merit—greatness, tapas, and the power to sustain beings—rather than by external appearance. A truly dharmic person may even hide behind an unassuming or ‘mad’ guise, so ethical discernment requires humility and respect for concealed virtue.
Vāyudeva describes an exalted figure using a chain of epithets: worthy of salutation, mighty in action, ascetic, creator/nurturer of beings, concealed in a madman’s guise, and protector of all creatures across the worlds. The description signals the presence of a high, possibly divine or semi-divine authority whose true stature is intentionally veiled.