Shloka 86

Devanagari script

महामूर्धा महामात्रो महानेत्रो निशालय: । महान्तको महाकर्णो महोष्ठश्न महाहनुः,४६२ महामूर्धा--महान्‌ मस्तकवाले, ४६३ महामात्र:--विशाल नापवाले, ४६४ महानेत्र:--विशाल नेत्रोंवाले, ४६५ निशालय:--निशा अर्थात्‌ अविद्याके लयस्थान, ४६६ महान्तकः--मृत्युकी भी मृत्यु, ४६७ महाकर्ण:--बड़े-बड़े कानवाले, ४६८ महोष्ठ:--लंबे ओठवाले, ४६९ महाहनुः--पुष्ट एवं बड़ी ठोड़ीवाले

Transliteration

mahāmūrdhā mahāmātro mahānetro niśālayaḥ | mahāntako mahākarṇo mahauṣṭhaś ca mahāhanuḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu-deva said: “He is vast of head and broad of frame, with great eyes—himself the ‘abode of night,’ the place where darkness (ignorance) is dissolved. He is Death even to Death, large-eared, thick-lipped, and strong-jawed.”

Word by Word

महामूर्धाone with a great head

महामात्रःone with a great measure/size (very large-bodied)

महानेत्रःone with large eyes

निशालयःabode of night; (figuratively) locus of darkness/ignorance

महान्तकःgreat destroyer; death of death

महाकर्णःone with large ears

महोष्ठःone with large lips

महाहनुःone with a great jaw/chin

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

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 uses a chain of epithets to convey a theological idea: the described being is not merely powerful in form, but cosmically supreme—one in whom darkness (ignorance) is dissolved and who stands beyond even death (“Death to Death”).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is speaking and describing a mighty, transcendent figure through physical and metaphysical attributes—great head, eyes, ears, jaw—culminating in titles that signal cosmic sovereignty (the dissolver of darkness and the terminator of death).