Shloka 52

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

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

अधर्षणो धर्षणात्मा यज्ञहा कामनाशक: । दक्षयागापहारी च सुसहो मध्यमस्तथा

Transliteration

adharṣaṇo dharṣaṇātmā yajñahā kāmanāśakaḥ | dakṣayāgāpahārī ca susaho madhyamas tathā ||

Translation

Thần Vāyu nói: “Ngài không thể bị công phá, nhưng lại là sức mạnh khuất phục kẻ khác; là đấng phá hủy tế lễ của Dakṣa và tiêu diệt Kāma (thần dục vọng). Ngài cũng là đấng đã đoạt lấy (hoặc làm gián đoạn) nghi lễ tế tự của Dakṣa—thế nhưng Ngài vô cùng nhẫn nhịn và đứng như một hiện diện trung dung, điều hòa.”

Word by Word

• अधर्षणः: unassailable; unconquerable
• अधर्षणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधर्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• धर्षणात्मा: one whose nature is fierce/terrifying
• धर्षणात्मा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्षणात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यज्ञहा: destroyer of the sacrifice
• यज्ञहा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञहन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कामनाशकः: destroyer of Kāma (the love-god)/desire
• कामनाशकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कामनाशक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दक्षयागापहारी: one who carried off/robbed Dakṣa’s sacrifice
• दक्षयागापहारी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दक्षयागापहारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• सुसहः: very patient; enduring
• सुसहः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुसह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मध्यमः: middle; moderate; impartial
• मध्यमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मध्यम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: thus; likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Dakṣa
• Dakṣa’s sacrifice (Dakṣa-yajña / Dakṣa-yāga)
• Kāma (Kāmadeva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a paradoxical ideal of divine authority: the same being who can shatter prideful or misdirected ritual (Dakṣa’s sacrifice) and burn away desire (Kāma) is also deeply patient and balanced. Ethical force is not mere aggression; it is disciplined power guided by restraint and the capacity to restore equilibrium.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is describing a supreme figure (implicitly Śiva/Rudra in the Dakṣa-yajña and Kāma episodes) by listing epithets: invincible, overpowering, destroyer/disruptor of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, destroyer of Kāma, yet also supremely tolerant and a mediator. The description situates the figure within well-known Purāṇic-style episodes referenced inside the Mahābhārata’s ethical discourse.