Shloka 243

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

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

निगदिष्ये महाबाहो स्तवानामुत्तमं स्तवम्‌ । तण्डिने स्वर्गसे उसे इस भूतलपर उतारा था। यह सम्पूर्ण मंगलोंका भी मंगल तथा समस्त पापोंका नाश करनेवाला है। महाबाहो! सब स्तोत्रोंमें उत्तम इस सहसख्रनामस्तोत्रका मैं आपसे वर्णन करूँगा

Transliteration

nigadiṣye mahābāho stavānām uttamaṃ stavam | taṇḍine svargase use as bhūtalapar utārā thā | yaha sampūrṇa maṅgaloṃkā bhī maṅgala tathā samasta pāpoṃkā nāśa karanevālā hai | mahābāho! saba stotroṃmẽ uttama isa sahasranāmastotrakā maiṃ āpase varṇana karū̃gā |

Translation

ヴァーユは言った。「おお、強き腕を持つ者よ、あらゆる讃歌の中でも最上の讃歌を汝に告げよう。これはかつて天界の聖仙タンディンのために地上へもたらされた。万の吉祥のうち最も吉祥にして、あらゆる罪を滅するもの。おお、強き腕を持つ者よ、今こそこの至高のサハスラナーマ・ストートラ—諸々の讃嘆の中の最勝—を汝に説き明かそう。」

Word by Word

• {'nigadiṣye': 'I shall proclaim

• I will state', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (honorific address)', 'stava': 'hymn of praise

• eulogy', 'stavānām uttamam': 'the best among hymns', 'taṇḍin': 'Taṇḍin (a named recipient/figure associated with transmission)', 'svargase': 'to/for the heavenly sage

• belonging to heaven (contextual)', 'bhūtala': 'the earth

• earthly realm', 'utāra': 'brought down

• transmitted (to earth)', 'maṅgala': 'auspiciousness

• blessing', 'pāpa': 'sin

• moral fault', 'nāśa': 'destruction

• removal', 'sahasranāma-stotra': 'a hymn consisting of a thousand names (litany of epithets)'}

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• महाबाहो (Mahābāho—address to the listener)
• तण्डिन (Taṇḍin)
• स्वर्ग (Svarga)
• भूतल (Bhūtala—earth)
• सहस्रनामस्तोत्र (Sahasranāma-stotra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage elevates devotional praise (stotra) as a dharmic practice that generates auspiciousness and purifies moral faults. It frames sacred recitation as ethically transformative—removing pāpa and orienting the listener toward the highest good.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses the listener as “mahābāho” and announces that he will transmit an exceptionally powerful Sahasranāma-stotra. He notes its prior descent to earth for Taṇḍin, emphasizing its authority, auspiciousness, and sin-destroying efficacy before beginning the description.