Shanti Parva Adhyaya 336 Shloka 11 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 11

एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline

Devanagari script

छत्राकृतिशीर्षा मेघौघनिनादा: सममुष्कचतुष्का राजीवच्छतपादा: । षष्ट्या दन्तैर्युक्ता: शुक्लैरष्टाभिद्रष्टाभियें जिद्दाभियें विश्ववक्‍षत्रं लेलिहान्ते सूर्यप्रर्यम्‌

Transliteration

chatrākṛtiśīrṣā meghaughaninādāḥ samamuṣkacatuṣkā rājīvachchatapādāḥ | ṣaṣṭyā dantairyuktāḥ śuklairaṣṭābhirdrāṣṭābhirjiddhābhirye viśvavakṣatraṃ lelihānte sūryaprarayam ||

Translation

छत्राकृतिशीर्षाः मेघौघनिनादस्वराः समचतुष्कबाहवः, राजीवशतरेखाङ्कितपादाः। षष्ट्या शुक्लदन्तैः अष्टाभिश्च दाढाभिः युक्ताः। सूर्यसमप्रभाः, जगदपि स्वमुखे धारयितुं समर्थाः; जिह्वाभिः महाकालमपि लेलिहन्ति।

Word by Word

छत्राकृतिशीर्षाःhaving heads shaped like umbrellas

मेघौघनिनादाःhaving a roar like a mass of clouds

सममुष्कचतुष्काःhaving four equal arms

राजीवच्छतपादाःhaving feet marked with hundreds of lotus-like lines

षष्ट्याwith sixty

दन्तैःwith teeth

युक्ताःendowed (with)

शुक्लैःwhite

अष्टाभिःwith eight

द्रष्टाभिःwith molars (lit. 'lookers'; here understood as दाढा/दाढा-दन्ताः)

येwho

जिह्वाभिःwith tongues

विश्ववक्षत्रम्the all-containing (one) / the universe-holder (epithet)

लेलिहन्तेthey lick

सूर्यप्रभम्sun-bright, radiant like the sun

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

dvīpa (island/region)

Mahākāla

Sūrya (Sun)

vajra (thunderbolt)

chhatra (parasol)

megha (clouds)

rājīva (lotus)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage praises inner purity and yogic discipline: those free from pāpa possess divine strength and, ethically, remain equal-minded toward honor and dishonor (samatva), suggesting that true power is grounded in dharma and detachment rather than social validation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is describing a wondrous island inhabited by extraordinary, sinless beings. Their superhuman features—four arms, thunderous voice, vajra-like bodies, sun-like radiance, and the hyperbolic image of licking even Mahākāla—serve to magnify their spiritual potency and otherworldly status.