Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 60, Shloka 56
कुम्भकर्णविबोधनम्
The Awakening of Kumbhakarna
सनागभोगाचलशृङ्गकल्पौविक्षिप्यबाहूगिरशृङ्गसारौ ।निवृत्यवक्त्रंवडवामुखाभंनिशाचरोऽसौविकृतंजजृम्भे ।।।।
sanāga-bhogācala-śṛṅga-kalpau vikṣipya bāhū giriśṛṅga-sārau | nivṛtya vaktraṃ vaḍavāmukhābhaṃ niśācaro ’sau vikṛtaṃ jajṛmbhe ||
Flinging out his arms—like mountain-peaks entwined with serpent-coils, hard as rocky summits—that night-roamer turned his face; his mouth, like the submarine fire, opened in a dreadful yawn.
Kumbhakarna, devoid of any beauty threw out his limbs which were like the coils of cobra and as hard as mountain tops, his mouth was unnatural like a submarine fire as he yawned.
FAQs
The verse uses terrifying imagery to mark adharma’s outward expression: violence and menace manifest even in ordinary acts. Dharma is associated with restraint and auspiciousness; here the opposite aesthetic signals moral danger.
Kumbhakarṇa physically stirs awake—stretching, turning, and yawning—revealing his colossal, fearsome form.
Not a virtue but a trait: overwhelming might (bala) without ethical orientation, foreshadowing destructive action.