Shloka 35
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
कितनोंकी कान्ति अरुणवर्णकी है। वे सभी महान् भोगोंसे सम्पन्न हैं। उनके केश बड़े- बड़े और वस्त्र उज्ज्वल हैं। वे ऊपरकी ओर वेणी धारण करनेवाली, भूरी आँखोंसे सुशोभित तथा लम्बी मेखलासे अलंकृत हैं ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca | lambodaryo lambakarṇās tathā lambapayodharāḥ | tāmrākṣyas tāmravarṇāś ca haryakṣyaś ca tathā parāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Among those female beings, some had pendulous bellies, some had long ears, and others had heavy, elongated breasts. Some were copper-red eyed, some were copper-hued in complexion, and others again had greenish-dark eyes.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it uses vivid, unsettling physical imagery to mark an inauspicious, fear-laden moment in the war narrative. Ethically, it functions as a literary signal that adharma and violence draw forth terrifying forces and destabilize the human world.
Vaiśampāyana is describing a group of uncanny female figures (as part of an ominous scene), distinguishing them by unusual bodily traits and eye/skin colors. The catalog-like description intensifies the sense of dread and portent surrounding the events of the Shalya Parva.