Shloka 6
Satya-lakṣaṇa (The Characteristics and Forms of Truth) | सत्यलक्षणम्
मम तेजो बल॑ भीम॑ वायोरपि हि नारद । कलामशष्टादशीं प्राणैर्न मे प्राप्रोति मारुत:,नारद! मेरा तेज और बल वायुसे भी भयंकर है। वायु अपनी प्राणशक्तिके द्वारा मेरी अठारहवीं कलाको भी नहीं पा सकता
mama tejo balaṁ bhīmaṁ vāyor api hi nārada | kalām aṣṭādaśīṁ prāṇair na me prāpnoti mārutaḥ ||
Śālmali nói: “Hỡi Nārada! Oai quang và sức mạnh của ta thật đáng sợ, còn lớn hơn cả gió. Māruta dù dốc trọn quyền lực của sinh khí cũng không chạm tới nổi một phần mười tám sức ta.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s theme that spiritual potency (tejas) gained through higher status or austerity can surpass even elemental forces like wind; it also implicitly warns that claims of superiority should be weighed against dharma, since power without restraint can become pride.
Nārada speaks in a tone of assertion, comparing his own tejas and bala to Vāyu/Māruta and declaring that even the wind’s prāṇa-force cannot reach even a small fraction (one eighteenth) of his power—emphasizing a hierarchy of might within the cosmic order.