Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 52
Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration
Anuśāsana-parva 17
अधर्षणो धर्षणात्मा यज्ञहा कामनाशक: । दक्षयागापहारी च सुसहो मध्यमस्तथा
adharṣaṇo dharṣaṇātmā yajñahā kāmanāśakaḥ | dakṣayāgāpahārī ca susaho madhyamas tathā ||
वायु-देव बोले— “वे अजेय हैं, फिर भी दूसरों को दबा देने वाली शक्ति-स्वरूप हैं; दक्ष के यज्ञ का विध्वंस करने वाले और काम (कामदेव) का नाश करने वाले हैं। वही दक्ष-याग के अपहर्ता (विघ्नकर्ता) भी हैं—तथापि परम सहनशील हैं और मध्यस्थ भाव से स्थित रहते हैं।”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a paradoxical ideal of divine authority: the same being who can shatter prideful or misdirected ritual (Dakṣa’s sacrifice) and burn away desire (Kāma) is also deeply patient and balanced. Ethical force is not mere aggression; it is disciplined power guided by restraint and the capacity to restore equilibrium.
Vāyu is describing a supreme figure (implicitly Śiva/Rudra in the Dakṣa-yajña and Kāma episodes) by listing epithets: invincible, overpowering, destroyer/disruptor of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, destroyer of Kāma, yet also supremely tolerant and a mediator. The description situates the figure within well-known Purāṇic-style episodes referenced inside the Mahābhārata’s ethical discourse.