Shloka 24
Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path
अप्सरोनूपुररवै: प्रनृत्तवतरबर्हिणम् । दिग्वारणविषाणाग्रै्धष्टोपलशिलातलम्,वहाँ अप्सराओंके नूपुरोंकी मधुर ध्वनिके साथ सुन्दर मोर नाच रहे थे। उस पर्वतके एक-एक रत्न और शिलाखण्डपर दिग्गजोंके दाँतोंकी रगड़का चिह्न अंकित था
apsaronūpuraravaiḥ pranṛttavara-barhiṇam | digvāraṇa-viṣāṇāgraiḥ dhṛṣṭopala-śilātalam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “There, to the sweet ringing of the Apsarās’ anklets, splendid peacocks were dancing. And on that mountain’s slabs of gems and stone, marks were etched as if by the scraping of the tusk-tips of the mighty elephants of the quarters.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily heightens the sense of a sacred, extraordinary landscape: celestial music and natural beauty coexist with cosmic-scale imagery (directional guardian elephants). Ethically, it underscores reverence for places associated with the divine and the vastness of the world-order (cosmic guardians), inviting humility before such grandeur.
Vaiśampāyana describes a wondrous mountain scene: Apsarās are present (suggested by the ringing of their anklets), peacocks dance to that melodious sound, and the mountain’s gem-and-stone surfaces bear scrape-marks as though made by the tusk-tips of the mythic elephants who guard the directions.