Shloka 1

Devanagari script

ऑपन--माज छा अप ऋाल एकषष्ट्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय: भगवान्‌ शड्करके माहात्म्यका वर्णन वायुदेव उवाच युधिष्ठिर महाबाहो महाभाग्यं महात्मन: । रुद्राय बहुरूपाय बहुनाम्ने निबोध मे

Transliteration

Vāyudeva uvāca: Yudhiṣṭhira mahābāho mahābhāgyaṁ mahātmanaḥ | Rudrāya bahurūpāya bahunāmne nibodha me ||

Translation

Vāyudeva said: “O mighty-armed Yudhiṣṭhira, O greatly fortunate one, listen to me as I set forth the greatness of Rudra—the great-souled Lord who assumes many forms and bears many names.”

Word by Word

• {'Vāyudeva uvāca': 'Vāyudeva said', 'Yudhiṣṭhira': 'Yudhiṣṭhira (eldest Pāṇḍava, exemplar of dharma)', 'mahābāho': 'mighty-armed

• a heroic epithet', 'mahābhāgyam / mahābhāgyaṁ': 'great fortune

• blessedness', 'mahātmanaḥ': 'of the great-souled one

• noble-minded', 'Rudrāya': 'to/for Rudra (Śiva)', 'bahurūpāya': 'having many forms

• multiform', 'bahunāmne': 'having many names

• of many appellations', 'nibodha': 'understand

• learn', 'me': 'from me

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Rudra (Śiva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames devotion and reverent attention as prerequisites for understanding divine greatness: Rudra is presented as a single supreme reality expressed through many forms and names, inviting the listener to grasp unity behind multiplicity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and begins a discourse praising Rudra/Śiva, announcing that he will describe Rudra’s greatness characterized by multiple manifestations and epithets.