Shloka 32

Devanagari script

जटी चर्मी शिखण्डी च सर्वाड्र: सर्वभावन: । हरश्न हरिणाक्षश्न सर्वभूतहर: प्रभु:

Transliteration

jaṭī carmī śikhaṇḍī ca sarvāḍraḥ sarvabhāvanaḥ | haraśna hariṇākṣaśna sarvabhūtaharaḥ prabhuḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu said: “He is the matted-haired ascetic, clad in hide, and bearing a crest; ever moist (with sacred unction) and the universal nourisher. He consumes what is offered to Hara (Śiva) and what is offered to Hari (Viṣṇu); he is the sovereign Lord who withdraws all beings (at the end of time).”

Word by Word

जटीmatted-haired

चर्मीwearing a hide/skin

शिखण्डीcrested; wearing a topknot/crest

चand

सर्वाद्रःhaving all mountains (as his form); all-mountain-like

सर्वभावनःthe nourisher/producer of all

हरश्नःdestroyer (epithet of Hara/Śiva)

हरिणाक्षश्नःslayer of the deer-eyed one (epithet; lit. 'deer-eyed-slayer')

सर्वभूतहरःdestroyer/remover of all beings

प्रभुःthe Lord, master

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Hara (Śiva)

Hari (Viṣṇu)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a theological vision of the Supreme as both ascetic and cosmic ruler—one who sustains all beings yet also withdraws them at the end—while implying a unifying reverence that encompasses both Hara (Śiva) and Hari (Viṣṇu).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is describing the Lord through a string of epithets: outward marks of asceticism (matted hair, hide-garment, crest) alongside cosmic functions (universal nourishment and final withdrawal), and he frames the deity as one who ‘consumes’ offerings associated with both Śiva and Viṣṇu.