Shloka 146
अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)
निर्वाणद सहस्रांशो नमस्ते<5स्तु सुखाश्रय । विभो! जो जन्म-मरणसे भयभीत हो संसार-बन्धनसे मुक्त होनेके लिये प्रयत्न करते हैं
nirvāṇada sahasrāṁśo namas te 'stu sukhāśraya | vibho! ye janma-maraṇase bhayabhītāḥ saṁsāra-bandhanāt mukta-bhavituṁ prayatante, tān yatīn nirvāṇam (mokṣam) pradātā tvam eva | tvam eva sahasra-kiraṇavān sūryo bhūtvā tapasi | sukhasyāśraya-rūpa maheśvara! tubhyaṁ namaḥ |
Vāyu-deva offers reverent praise: “O bestower of liberation, O thousand-rayed one, salutations to you, the refuge of true happiness. O all-pervading Lord—those ascetics who, frightened by the cycle of birth and death, strive to be freed from the bondage of worldly existence: it is you alone who grants them nirvāṇa, liberation. You alone blaze as the sun with a thousand rays. O Maheśvara, the very ground and shelter of bliss, I bow to you.” The verse frames liberation not as mere escape, but as the fruit of disciplined striving supported by divine grace, and it presents the Lord as both transcendent giver of mokṣa and immanent cosmic power (the sun’s heat).
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation from saṁsāra comes through the ascetic’s earnest effort to transcend fear of birth and death, yet the final granting of nirvāṇa is attributed to the Lord (Maheśvara). The verse unites human discipline (prayatna) with divine bestowal (prasāda).
Vāyu-deva is speaking a hymn-like praise, saluting Maheśvara as the giver of mokṣa to striving ascetics and identifying him with the cosmic sun that blazes with a thousand rays—linking the deity’s salvific role with his universal, sustaining power.