Shloka 130

Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

मन्थानो बहुलो वायु: सकल: सर्वलोचन: । तलस्ताल: करस्थाली ऊर्ध्वसंहननो महान्‌

Transliteration

manthāno bahulo vāyuḥ sakalaḥ sarvalocanaḥ | talastālaḥ karasthālī ūrdhvasaṃhanano mahān ||

Translation

Vāyu-deva dit : «Il est un vent puissant qui baratte le monde, le grand souffle du temps de la dissolution ; accompli en toutes puissances, voyant partout. Il garde la mesure en frappant sa propre paume, prend ses mains pour écuelle, possède un corps robuste, compact et dressé, et il est véritablement grand.»

Word by Word

• मन्थानः: churner; one who churns (metaph. powerful agitator)
• मन्थानः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्थान
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• बहुलः: abundant; mighty; intense
• बहुलः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहुल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वायुः: wind
• वायुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सकलः: entire; complete
• सकलः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सकल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सर्वलोचनः: all-seeing (having eyes everywhere)
• सर्वलोचनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व-लोचन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तलस्तालः: with palm and clapping (i.e., clapping with the palms)
• तलस्तालः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तल-स्ताल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• करस्थाली: having the hand as a bowl/plate (using the hand as a vessel)
• करस्थाली: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कर-स्थाली
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ऊर्ध्वसंहननः: with firm/compact upper build; strongly knit-bodied
• ऊर्ध्वसंहननः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ध्व-संहनन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महान्: great; mighty
• महान्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyu-deva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises a being (or ideal) marked by immense power coupled with self-sufficiency and discipline: all-seeing awareness, strength, and the ascetic simplicity of needing little (even using one’s own hands as a vessel). It suggests that true greatness includes both capability and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is speaking and describing a formidable figure through a string of epithets—depicting cosmic force (wind that churns), omniscience (all-seeing), and ascetic habits (hand as bowl), along with a strong, upright physique—thereby characterizing the subject’s nature and stature.