Shloka 79
Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path
हस्वौष्ठ ताम्रजिद्दास्यं रक्तकर्ण चलद्भ्रुवम् । विवृत्तदेष्टादशनं शुक्लतीक्ष्णाग्रशोभितम्,उनके ओठ छोटे थे। जीभ और मुखका रंग ताँबेके समान था। कान भी लाल रंगके ही थे और भौंहें चजचल हो रही थीं। उनके खुले हुए मुखमें श्वेत चमकते हुए दाँत और दाढ़ें अपने सफेद और तीखे अग्रभागके द्वारा अत्यन्त शोभा पा रही थीं। इन सबके कारण उनका मुख किरणोंसे प्रकाशित चन्द्रमाके समान दिखायी देता था। मुखके भीतरकी श्वेत दन्तावलि उसकी शोभा बढ़ानेके लिये आभूषणका काम दे रही थी
hasvauṣṭha-tāmrajihvāsyaṁ raktakarṇa-caladbhrūvam | vivṛtta-deṣṭa-daśanaṁ śukla-tīkṣṇāgra-śobhitam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “His lips were small; his tongue and the inside of his mouth shone with a coppery hue. His ears were red, and his eyebrows kept twitching. In his open mouth, the white, gleaming teeth and fangs—bright with sharp, pale tips—stood out in striking beauty. Because of these features, his face appeared like the moon lit up with rays, and the white row of teeth within seemed like an ornament enhancing his splendor.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
This verse is primarily descriptive rather than didactic: it uses vivid physical imagery (color, motion, sharpness, brightness) to shape the reader’s moral and emotional perception of a figure. In epic narrative, such striking bodily markers often function as cues—suggesting intensity, otherworldliness, or danger—thereby guiding ethical interpretation of subsequent actions.
Vaiśaṃpāyana is describing a person’s face and mouth in detail—small lips, coppery tongue and mouth, red ears, twitching eyebrows, and an open mouth with bright, sharp white teeth—creating a moonlike, radiant yet formidable appearance.