Shloka 6

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

Devanagari script

अजं तमहमीशानमनादिनिधन प्रभुम्‌ अत्यन्तसुखिनं देवमनघं शरणं व्रजे

Transliteration

ajaṁ tam aham īśānam anādinidhanaṁ prabhum atyantasukhinaṁ devam anaghaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraje

Translation

风神伐由说道：“我归依那不生之主——无始无终的自在大主——至乐、神圣、无垢无染。三数派的学者称颂他为至上者、原质（Pradhāna）、神我（Puruṣa）、统御者与自在天（Īśvara）；瑜伽行者恒常观想他；智者知他为世界生起与坏灭之因；在诸天、阿修罗与仙圣之中，亦无有胜过于他者。于那威德无量的大天（Mahādeva），我前往求庇护。”

Word by Word

• अजम्: unborn
• अजम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• ईशानम्: the Lord (Īśāna)
• ईशानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ईशान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अनादि-निधनम्: without beginning and without end
• अनादि-निधनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनादिनिधन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रभुम्: the master, sovereign
• प्रभुम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अत्यन्त-सुखिनम्: supremely blissful
• अत्यन्त-सुखिनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अत्यन्तसुखिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• देवम्: the god
• देवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अनघम्: sinless, faultless
• अनघम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनघ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शरणम्: refuge
• शरणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• व्रजे: I go / I take (refuge)
• व्रजे: —
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (धातु)
• Form: Present, First, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Īśāna
• Mahādeva (Śiva)
• Sāṅkhya-śāstra (Sāṅkhya tradition)
• Pradhāna
• Puruṣa
• Adhiṣṭhātā
• Īśvara
• Yogins
• Devas
• Asuras
• Munis

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches śaraṇāgati—taking refuge in the supreme Lord—described as unborn, beginningless, endless, blissful, and stainless. It also presents a harmonizing vision where the highest reality is praised in terms familiar to Sāṅkhya (Pradhāna, Puruṣa) and Yoga (Īśvara), affirming one supreme divine source behind creation and dissolution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva offers a devotional declaration, identifying Mahādeva (Śiva) as the unsurpassed supreme being. He frames Śiva’s greatness through philosophical and cosmological language—praised by Sāṅkhya scholars, contemplated by yogins, and recognized by the wise as the cause of the world’s origin and end—before explicitly taking refuge in him.