Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 17 Shloka 67 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 67

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

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

सर्वकामवरश्रैव सर्वद: सर्वतोमुख: । आकाशनिर्विरूपश्न निपाती हवश: खग:

Transliteration

sarvakāmavaraś caiva sarvadaḥ sarvatomukhaḥ | ākāśanirvirūpaś ca nipātī avaśaḥ khagaḥ ||

Translation

वायुदेव उवाच—सर्वकामवरः स एव, सर्वदः सर्वतोमुखः। आकाशनिर्विरूपश्च, निपाती चावशः खगः॥

Word by Word

सर्वकामवरःbest among all desirable objects / supreme boon (often taken as mokṣa)

चand

सर्वदःgiver of everything

सर्वतोमुखःhaving faces in all directions / all-faced

आकाशनिर्विरूपःmanifesting diverse forms like the sky / sky-like in (varied) forms

निपातीone who causes to fall / cast down

अवशःuncontrolled; not subject to anyone’s control

खगःsky-goer; bird (epithet: one who moves in the sky)

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu-deva

the Supreme Lord (implied referent of the epithets)

ākāśa (sky)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a theological-ethical portrait of the Supreme: all-giving and all-pervading, yet independent and beyond limitation, while also functioning as moral governor—uplifting devotees through grace and casting down persistent sinners through the consequences of adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is speaking and enumerating honorific epithets describing the Supreme Lord’s nature—his universal presence (sarvatomukha), transcendence and manifold manifestation (ākāśanirvirūpa), sovereignty (avaśa), and punitive aspect toward wrongdoing (nipātī).