Shloka 20

अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)

Devanagari script

अनिच्छतस्तव विभो जन्ममृत्युरनेकत: । द्वारं तु स्वर्गमोक्षाणामाक्षेप्ता त्वं ददासि च

Transliteration

anicchatas tava vibho janma-mṛtyur anekataḥ | dvāraṁ tu svarga-mokṣāṇām ākṣeptā tvaṁ dadāsi ca, prabho ||

Translation

风神伐由说道：“噢，全能的主宰！当你不欲施恩时，众生便以种种方式反复经历生与死。你自身就是通往天界与解脱之门；你能阻其得达，而唯有你也能赐予二者，噢主宰。”

Word by Word

• {'anicchataḥ': 'when (You) do not wish

• unwillingly (on Your part)', 'tava': 'of you

• your', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

• O all-pervading Lord', 'janma-mṛtyuḥ': 'birth and death (the cycle of saṁsāra)', 'anekataḥ': 'in many ways

• from many causes', 'dvāram': 'door

• means of access', 'svarga': 'heaven

• celestial attainment', 'mokṣāṇām': 'of liberations

• of mokṣa (release)', 'ākṣeptā': 'one who hinders/blocks

• obstructer', 'tvaṁ': 'you', 'dadāsi': 'you give

• you grant', 'ca': 'and

• also', 'prabho': 'O Lord

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Prabhu/Vibhu (the Lord addressed)
• Svarga
• Mokṣa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Liberation and heavenly attainment ultimately depend on the Lord’s sanction: He is both the ‘door’ (means of access) and the one who may obstruct or grant the result. The verse stresses divine sovereignty alongside the reality of repeated birth and death when grace is not operative.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is speaking in praise and theological clarification, addressing the supreme Lord and asserting that beings continue in saṁsāra without divine favor, while svarga and mokṣa are attained only through the Lord who controls both access and outcome.