Virādha-saṃvādaḥ — Encounter with Virādha in the Daṇḍakāraṇya
Aranya Kanda, Sarga 2
वसानं चर्म वैयाघ्रं वसार्द्रं रुधिरोक्षितम्।त्रासनं सर्वभूतानां व्यादितास्यमिवान्तकम्।।।।
vasānaṃ carma vaiyāghraṃ vasārdraṃ rudhirokṣitam | trāsanaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ vyāditāsyam ivāntakam ||
Vestía una piel de tigre empapada en grasa y salpicada de sangre; aterraba a todos los seres, como la misma Muerte con las fauces abiertas.
Wearing a tiger-skin, he resembled the god of death. With a wide, open mouth, wet with marrow and drenched with blood, he struck terror into all beings.
Dharma requires confronting terror without yielding to it; the verse depicts fear as a weapon of adharma, which the righteous must overcome.
Virādha’s gruesome attire and death-like presence are described as he approaches the protagonists.
Fearlessness (abhaya)—the implied moral demand on Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa is steadiness in the face of horror.