Shloka 13

Uttanka’s Viśvarūpa Request and the ‘Uttanka Clouds’ Boon (उत्तङ्क-विष्वरूप-दर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

बह्वी: संसरमाणो वै योनीर्वतामि सत्तम | धर्मसंरक्षणार्थाय धर्मसंस्थापनाय च

Transliteration

bahvīḥ saṁsaramāṇo vai yonīr vatāmi sattama | dharma-saṁrakṣaṇārthāya dharma-saṁsthāpanāya ca ||

Translation

„O Bester der Tugendhaften, wahrlich bin ich durch den Saṁsāra gewandert, durch viele Leiber und viele Geburten, um die Dharma zu schützen und sie auch wieder aufzurichten.“

Word by Word

• बह्वीः: many
• बह्वीः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बह्वी (बहु-)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

• संसरमाणः: wandering/transmigrating
• संसरमाणः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सं-√सृ (सरति)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• योनीः: wombs/births (forms of existence)
• योनीः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: योनि
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

• व्रतामि: I choose/undertake
• Type: Verb
• Root: √व्र (व्रणोति/व्रयति) / √वृ (वृणोति)
• Form: Present, 1st, Singular

• सत्तम: O best of the good
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्तम (सत् + तमप्)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• धर्म: of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• संरक्षणार्थाय: for the protection
• संरक्षणार्थाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संरक्षणार्थ (सं-√रक्ष + अर्थ)
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• धर्म: of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• संस्थापनाय: for the establishment
• संस्थापनाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संस्थापन (सम्-√स्था + णिच्)
• Form: Neuter, Dative, Singular

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

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• सत्तम (addressed virtuous person; unnamed in this verse)
• धर्म (Dharma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a dharma-centered view of existence: even repeated births and wandering in saṁsāra can be understood as purposeful when directed toward safeguarding and re-establishing dharma—moral order and rightful conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva speaks to a virtuous interlocutor, declaring that he has taken many embodiments and moved through many births with a specific aim: to protect dharma and to restore it when it declines.