Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 243

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

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

निगदिष्ये महाबाहो स्तवानामुत्तमं स्तवम्‌ । तण्डिने स्वर्गसे उसे इस भूतलपर उतारा था। यह सम्पूर्ण मंगलोंका भी मंगल तथा समस्त पापोंका नाश करनेवाला है। महाबाहो! सब स्तोत्रोंमें उत्तम इस सहसख्रनामस्तोत्रका मैं आपसे वर्णन करूँगा

Transliteration

nigadiṣye mahābāho stavānām uttamaṃ stavam | taṇḍine svargase use as bhūtalapar utārā thā | yaha sampūrṇa maṅgaloṃkā bhī maṅgala tathā samasta pāpoṃkā nāśa karanevālā hai | mahābāho! saba stotroṃmẽ uttama isa sahasranāmastotrakā maiṃ āpase varṇana karū̃gā |

Translation

伐由说道：“噢，臂力无双者，我将向你宣说诸赞歌之中最上妙的一篇。往昔此颂为天界圣者檀丁（Taṇḍin）而降至人间。它是诸吉祥中之至吉祥，能灭尽一切罪垢。噢，臂力无双者，我今当为你叙述这至上的《千名赞》（Sahasranāma-stotra），乃一切颂赞之最胜。”

Word by Word

• {'nigadiṣye': 'I shall proclaim

• I will state', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (honorific address)', 'stava': 'hymn of praise

• eulogy', 'stavānām uttamam': 'the best among hymns', 'taṇḍin': 'Taṇḍin (a named recipient/figure associated with transmission)', 'svargase': 'to/for the heavenly sage

• belonging to heaven (contextual)', 'bhūtala': 'the earth

• earthly realm', 'utāra': 'brought down

• transmitted (to earth)', 'maṅgala': 'auspiciousness

• blessing', 'pāpa': 'sin

• moral fault', 'nāśa': 'destruction

• removal', 'sahasranāma-stotra': 'a hymn consisting of a thousand names (litany of epithets)'}

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• महाबाहो (Mahābāho—address to the listener)
• तण्डिन (Taṇḍin)
• स्वर्ग (Svarga)
• भूतल (Bhūtala—earth)
• सहस्रनामस्तोत्र (Sahasranāma-stotra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage elevates devotional praise (stotra) as a dharmic practice that generates auspiciousness and purifies moral faults. It frames sacred recitation as ethically transformative—removing pāpa and orienting the listener toward the highest good.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses the listener as “mahābāho” and announces that he will transmit an exceptionally powerful Sahasranāma-stotra. He notes its prior descent to earth for Taṇḍin, emphasizing its authority, auspiciousness, and sin-destroying efficacy before beginning the description.