Shloka 122

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

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

शिरोहारी विमर्शश्न सर्वलक्षणलक्षित: । अक्षश्ष रथयोगी च सर्वयोगी महाबल:

Transliteration

śirohārī vimarśaś ca sarvalakṣaṇalakṣitaḥ | akṣaś ca rathayogī ca sarvayogī mahābalaḥ ||

Translation

Thần Vāyu nói: “Ngài là kẻ đoạt thủ cấp—sau khi xét đoán bằng minh triết, Ngài chém ngã kẻ ác. Ngài mang đủ mọi tướng lành. Ngài là trục xe và bậc chủ của sự điều phục cỗ chiến xa, luôn hợp nhất với mọi kỷ luật yoga, và sở hữu sức mạnh vô lượng.”

Word by Word

• {'śirohārī': 'head-taker

• one who beheads or decisively destroys (especially the wicked)', 'vimarśaḥ': 'deliberation, discernment, reflective judgment', 'sarva-lakṣaṇa-lakṣitaḥ': 'distinguished by all (auspicious) marks or characteristics', 'akṣaḥ': 'axle

• the central pivot of a chariot (also: die in other contexts, but here chariot-axle)', 'ratha-yogī': 'one skilled in yoking/handling the chariot

• charioteering mastery', 'sarva-yogī': 'ever-yoked

• constantly composed', 'mahā-balaḥ': 'of great strength

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu-deva (Wind-god)
• ratha (chariot)
• akṣa (chariot axle)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power is praised only when guided by discernment (vimarśa) and aligned with dharma: the ideal protector destroys wrongdoing decisively, yet does so with reflective judgment, inner discipline (yoga), and auspicious qualities.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva is describing an exemplary figure through a string of epithets—one who punishes the wicked, bears auspicious marks, functions as the ‘axle’ of the chariot (a stabilizing pivot), is skilled in chariot-control, remains constantly yogic, and possesses great strength.