Shloka 52

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

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

अधर्षणो धर्षणात्मा यज्ञहा कामनाशक: । दक्षयागापहारी च सुसहो मध्यमस्तथा

Transliteration

adharṣaṇo dharṣaṇātmā yajñahā kāmanāśakaḥ | dakṣayāgāpahārī ca susaho madhyamas tathā ||

Translation

Vāyu-deva sprach: „Unangreifbar ist er und doch die Kraft selbst, die andere niederzwingt; der Zerstörer von Dakṣas Opfer und der Vernichter Kāmas (des Gottes der Begierde). Er ist es auch, der Dakṣas Opferhandlung raubte (oder zerrüttete) — und dennoch ist er höchst nachsichtig und steht als ausgewogene, vermittelnde Gegenwart.“

Word by Word

• अधर्षणः: unassailable; unconquerable
• अधर्षणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधर्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• धर्षणात्मा: one whose nature is fierce/terrifying
• धर्षणात्मा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्षणात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यज्ञहा: destroyer of the sacrifice
• यज्ञहा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञहन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कामनाशकः: destroyer of Kāma (the love-god)/desire
• कामनाशकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कामनाशक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दक्षयागापहारी: one who carried off/robbed Dakṣa’s sacrifice
• दक्षयागापहारी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दक्षयागापहारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• सुसहः: very patient; enduring
• सुसहः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुसह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मध्यमः: middle; moderate; impartial
• मध्यमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मध्यम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: thus; likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Dakṣa
• Dakṣa’s sacrifice (Dakṣa-yajña / Dakṣa-yāga)
• Kāma (Kāmadeva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.