Shloka 63
Indrajit’s Binding, Restoration by Viśalyā, and Counsel Restraining Rāvaṇa (Āraṇyaka Parva 273)
दुर्दिनाम्भोदसदृशो दीप्ताक्षो वामनाकृति: । दण्डी कमण्डलुधर: श्रीवत्सोरसि भूषित:,“वह वर्षाकालके मेघके समान श्यामवर्णका था। उसके नेत्र देदीप्यमान हो रहे थे। वे वामनाकार, दण्ड और कमण्डलु धारण किये तथा वक्षःस्थलमें श्रीवत्सचिह्लसे विभूषित थे
durdināmbhodasadṛśo dīptākṣo vāmanākṛtiḥ | daṇḍī kamaṇḍaludharaḥ śrīvatsorasi bhūṣitaḥ ||
Bhīmasena said: “He was dark like a rain-cloud on a stormy day, with eyes blazing in brilliance. Though of dwarf-like form, he bore a staff and a water-pot, and his chest was adorned with the sacred Śrīvatsa mark.”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment of dharma through outward signs associated with ascetic discipline (staff and water-pot) and inner divinity indicated by auspicious marks like Śrīvatsa—suggesting that true spiritual authority combines restraint with sacred presence.
Bhīma is describing the appearance of a remarkable figure: dark like a monsoon cloud, radiant-eyed, dwarf-formed, carrying ascetic implements, and bearing the Śrīvatsa mark—details that signal the figure’s extraordinary, possibly divine, identity.