Shloka 86
Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration
Anuśāsana-parva 17
महामूर्धा महामात्रो महानेत्रो निशालय: । महान्तको महाकर्णो महोष्ठश्न महाहनुः
mahāmūrdhā mahāmātro mahānetro niśālayaḥ | mahāntako mahākarṇo mahauṣṭhaś ca mahāhanuḥ ||
Vāyu-deva bersabda: “Ia berkepala agung dan bertubuh lebar, bermata besar—dialah ‘kediaman malam’, tempat lenyapnya kegelapan (ketidaktahuan). Ia adalah Maut bagi Maut; bertelinga besar, berlabuh tebal, dan berahang kuat.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
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”).
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).