Shloka 5.10.37
रावणान्तःपुरे शयनदर्शनम् (Hanumān Observes Rāvaṇa’s Inner Apartments and Sleeping Court)
काचिद्वीणां परिष्वज्य प्रसुप्ता सम्प्रकाशते।महानदीप्रकीर्णेव नलिनी पोतमाश्रिता।।।।
kācid vīṇāṃ pariṣvajya prasuptā samprakāśate |
mahānadīprakīrṇeva nalinī potam āśritā ||
One woman slept clasping her vīṇā; she gleamed like a lotus-plant borne upon a great river, clinging to a boat.
Another woman slept hugging her veena. She shone like a lotus plant flung in a large river, clinging on to a boat. (Veena is compared to a boat and the woman to a lotus-plant in the ambience of flowing waters of the river. The entire hall had put up such a dynamic view showing hectic life of the inmates).
The verse indirectly highlights restraint and right conduct: Hanumān is in a morally sensitive space yet remains disciplined, observing without violating propriety—an application of dharma through self-control.
During his search in Laṅkā, Hanumān sees women of the inner quarters asleep after revelry, one embracing a vīṇā; the poet uses a river-and-lotus simile to depict the scene.
Hanumān’s steadiness (dhairya) and continence (saṃyama) are emphasized by the broader passage: he witnesses intimate domestic details but keeps his mission-focused and ethically guarded.