Shloka 6

Satya-lakṣaṇa (The Characteristics and Forms of Truth) | सत्यलक्षणम्

Devanagari script

मम तेजो बल॑ भीम॑ वायोरपि हि नारद । कलामशष्टादशीं प्राणैर्न मे प्राप्रोति मारुत:,नारद! मेरा तेज और बल वायुसे भी भयंकर है। वायु अपनी प्राणशक्तिके द्वारा मेरी अठारहवीं कलाको भी नहीं पा सकता

Transliteration

mama tejo balaṁ bhīmaṁ vāyor api hi nārada | kalām aṣṭādaśīṁ prāṇair na me prāpnoti mārutaḥ ||

Translation

Śālmali disse: “Ó Nārada! Meu esplendor e minha força são verdadeiramente terríveis, maiores até do que o Vento. Māruta, mesmo com todo o poder do seu sopro vital, não alcança sequer a décima oitava parte do meu vigor.”

Word by Word

ममof me / my

तेजःsplendor, energy, might

बलम्strength

भीमम्terrible, formidable

वायोःof the wind (Vayu)

अपिeven, also

हिindeed, for

नारदO Narada

कलाम्a part, portion (digit/kalā)

अष्टादशीम्eighteenth

प्राणैःby (his) vital powers/breaths

नnot

मेof me / my

प्राप्नोतिattains, reaches

मारुतःthe Wind (Marut/Vayu)

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Vāyu

Māruta

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s theme that spiritual potency (tejas) gained through higher status or austerity can surpass even elemental forces like wind; it also implicitly warns that claims of superiority should be weighed against dharma, since power without restraint can become pride.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada speaks in a tone of assertion, comparing his own tejas and bala to Vāyu/Māruta and declaring that even the wind’s prāṇa-force cannot reach even a small fraction (one eighteenth) of his power—emphasizing a hierarchy of might within the cosmic order.