Shloka 2

Devanagari script

अव्यक्तरूपो भगवान्‌ शतथा च सहस्रधा । शतधा सहस्रधा चैव तथा शतसहस्रधा

Transliteration

avyaktarūpo bhagavān śatadhā ca sahasradhā | śatadhā sahasradhā caiva tathā śatasahasradhā ||

Translation

యాజ్ఞవల్క్యుడు పలికెను—భగవంతుడు అవ్యక్త స్వరూపుడు; అయినా ఆయన శతధా, సహస్రధా—అలాగే శతసహస్రధా కూడా అనేక విధాలుగా ప్రత్యక్షమగుచున్నాడు।

Word by Word

अव्यक्तरूपःhaving an unmanifest form

भगवान्the Blessed Lord

शतधाa hundredfold

चand

सहस्रधाa thousandfold

शतधाa hundredfold

सहस्रधाa thousandfold

चand

एवindeed/just

तथाthus/likewise

शतसहस्रधाa hundred-thousandfold

Speaker

याज़्वल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

य

याज्ञवल्क्य (Yājñavalkya)

भ

भगवान् (Bhagavān, the Lord)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the Supreme is fundamentally unmanifest (beyond sensory grasp), yet can manifest innumerably in the world. It reconciles transcendence (avyakta) with immanence (many forms), suggesting that multiplicity of appearances does not contradict a single, subtle divine reality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, the sage Yājñavalkya is explaining a doctrinal point about the nature of the Lord: though not directly visible as a fixed form, the divine is understood to appear in countless modes and manifestations.