Shloka 6
Satya-lakṣaṇa (The Characteristics and Forms of Truth) | सत्यलक्षणम्
मम तेजो बल॑ भीम॑ वायोरपि हि नारद । कलामशष्टादशीं प्राणैर्न मे प्राप्रोति मारुत:,नारद! मेरा तेज और बल वायुसे भी भयंकर है। वायु अपनी प्राणशक्तिके द्वारा मेरी अठारहवीं कलाको भी नहीं पा सकता
mama tejo balaṁ bhīmaṁ vāyor api hi nārada | kalām aṣṭādaśīṁ prāṇair na me prāpnoti mārutaḥ ||
Śālmali said: “My splendor and strength are truly formidable—greater even than the Wind. Even with all his life-breath power, Māruta cannot attain even an eighteenth part of my might.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s theme that spiritual potency (tejas) gained through higher status or austerity can surpass even elemental forces like wind; it also implicitly warns that claims of superiority should be weighed against dharma, since power without restraint can become pride.
Nārada speaks in a tone of assertion, comparing his own tejas and bala to Vāyu/Māruta and declaring that even the wind’s prāṇa-force cannot reach even a small fraction (one eighteenth) of his power—emphasizing a hierarchy of might within the cosmic order.