Shloka 25
प्रावृट्-शरत्-वर्णनम् — Description of the Monsoon and Autumn; Sarasvatī in the Pāṇḍavas’ Exile
पर्वताभोगवर्ष्माणमतिकायं महाबलम् चित्राड़मड़जैश्षित्रैर्हरिद्रासद्शच्छविम्
parvatābhogavarṣmāṇam atikāyaṁ mahābalam | citrāṅgam aṅgajaiś citrair haridrāsadṛśacchavim ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “He was vast-bodied like a mountain range—enormous in size and possessed of tremendous strength. His limbs appeared strange, marked all over with unusual bodily signs, and his complexion was yellow like turmeric. With four shining fangs his mouth looked like a cavern; his eyes were intensely red, as if spitting fire. Again and again he licked both sides of his jaws. That dreadful serpent, terrifying all creatures like Kālāntaka and Yama, seemed to rebuke others with his hissing breath and lion-like roar.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily builds a moral atmosphere rather than stating a doctrine: it evokes how overwhelming, death-like forces (likened to Kālāntaka and Yama) can confront beings in the wilderness of life, reminding the listener of mortality and the need for steadiness and discernment when fearsome appearances arise.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a terrifying, gigantic serpent in vivid physical detail—mountain-like body, turmeric-yellow hue, strange markings, four gleaming fangs, fiery red eyes, and threatening hisses/roars—establishing the creature as a fearsome presence that intimidates all beings.