Shloka 16

Marutta’s Sacrifice: Indra’s Threat, Saṃvarta’s Mantric Restraint, and Divine Reconciliation (अध्याय १०)

Devanagari script

मरुत्त उवाच घोर: शब्द: श्रूयते वै महास्वनो वज्रस्यैष सहितो मारुतेन । आत्मा हि मे प्रव्यथते मुहुर्मुहु- न॑ मे स्वास्थ्यं जायते चाद्य विप्र

Transliteration

Marutta uvāca: ghoraḥ śabdaḥ śrūyate vai mahāsvano vajrasya eṣa sahito mārutena | ātmā hi me pravyathate muhur muhur na me svāsthyaṃ jāyate cādya vipra ||

Translation

Марутта сказал: «Слышится страшный звук — могучий гул: это грохот ваджры, сопровождаемый ветром. Снова и снова дрожит само моё существо; сегодня, о брахман, во мне не возникает ни стойкости, ни покоя».

Word by Word

• {'ghoraḥ': 'terrible, fearsome', 'śabdaḥ': 'sound, noise', 'śrūyate': 'is heard', 'vai': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)', 'mahāsvanaḥ': 'great roar, very loud-sounding', 'vajrasya': 'of the vajra

• thunderbolt (also: Indra’s weapon)', 'eṣaḥ': 'this (sound/roar)', 'sahitaḥ': 'accompanied, joined', 'mārutena': 'by the wind

• with the storm (māruta)', 'ātmā': 'self, inner being, heart-mind', 'me': 'my', 'pravyathate': 'trembles, is shaken, is distressed', 'muhur muhuḥ': 'again and again, repeatedly', 'na': 'not', 'svāsthyam': 'well-being, composure, calm, steadiness', 'jāyate': 'arises, is produced', 'ca': 'and', 'adya': 'today, now', 'vipra': 'brāhmaṇa

Speaker

मरुत्त उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Marutta
• vipra (a brāhmaṇa addressee)
• vajra (thunderbolt/Indra’s weapon)
• māruta (wind/storm)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how external upheavals (storm and thunder) can disturb inner steadiness; it implicitly values svāsthya—mental composure—often sought through dharmic counsel and disciplined discernment rather than being ruled by fear.

What is happening in the narrative?

Marutta addresses a brāhmaṇa, reporting a terrifying storm: the wind and the thunderbolt-like crash are so intense that his heart repeatedly trembles, and he feels no calm—suggesting an ominous atmosphere that calls for interpretation or guidance.