Shloka 46
Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration
Anuśāsana-parva 17
अजश्च बहुरूपश्च गन्धधारी कपर्द्यपि । ऊर्ध्वरेता ऊर्ध्वलिड्र ऊर्ध्शायी नभःस्थल:
ajaś ca bahurūpaś ca gandhadhārī kapardy api | ūrdhvaretā ūrdhvaliḍra ūrdhvaśāyī nabhaḥsthalaḥ ||
Vāyu-deva dit : «Il est l’Inengendré et le Multiforme ; le porteur de parfums ; et aussi l’ascète aux cheveux nattés. Son souffle vital est tourné vers le haut ; il se meut et demeure dans un état élevé, transcendant ; et il repose dans l’immensité du ciel.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises the deity through epithets that highlight transcendence and self-mastery: the divine is unborn and manifold, and the ascetic ideal is expressed through ‘ūrdhvaretāḥ’—the sublimation of vital energy upward, symbolizing disciplined restraint and spiritual elevation.
Vāyu is reciting a sequence of divine names/attributes (a stotra-like passage) describing the deity’s nature—unborn, many-formed, fragrant, matted-haired, and dwelling in the sky—thereby framing the deity as both immanent in forms and transcendent in abode and conduct.