Shloka 54

Indrajit’s Binding, Restoration by Viśalyā, and Counsel Restraining Rāvaṇa (Āraṇyaka Parva 273)

Devanagari script

महापर्वतवर्ष्माभ॑ तीक्ष्णदंष्टं प्रदीप्तिमत्‌ । महामेघौघनिर्घोषं नीलजीमूतसंनिभम्‌,*वेदतुल्य वैदिक वाडमय वराहरूप धारण करके भगवानने जलके भीतर प्रवेश किया। उनका वह विशाल पर्वताकार शरीर सौ योजन लंबा और दस योजन चौड़ा था। उनकी दाढ़ें बड़ी तीखी थीं। उनका शरीर देदीप्यमान हो रहा था। भगवान्‌का कण्ठस्वर महान्‌ मेघोंकी गर्जनजाके समान गम्भीर था। उनकी अंगकान्ति नील जलधरके समान श्याम थी

Transliteration

mahāparvatavarṣmābha tīṣṇadaṃṣṭraṃ pradīptimat | mahāmeghaughanirghoṣaṃ nīlajīmūtasaṃnibham ||

Translation

Bhīmasena said: “He appeared with a body vast like a great mountain, bearing sharp tusks and blazing with radiance. His voice resounded like the deep roar of massed storm-clouds, and his hue was dark, like a blue rain-cloud.”

Word by Word

महापर्वतवर्ष्माhaving a body like a great mountain

तीक्ष्णदंष्टम्sharp-tusked (having sharp tusks)

प्रदीप्तिमत्radiant, blazing

महामेघौघनिर्घोषम्having a roar like a mass of great clouds

नीलजीमूतसंनिभम्resembling a dark-blue cloud

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīmasena

Varāha (boar-form, implied by tusks and later prose context)

Bhagavān (the Lord, implied by later prose context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse evokes reverence for divine power manifested to protect and uphold order: the Lord’s overwhelming form and voice inspire humility, faith, and recognition that dharma is safeguarded by a higher force when threatened.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīma is describing a terrifyingly majestic being—mountain-bodied, tusked, radiant, cloud-voiced, and cloud-dark—consistent with the Varāha-like manifestation referenced in the surrounding context.