Shloka 73

Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path

Devanagari script

स लाडूलरवस्तस्य मत्तवारणनि:स्वनम्‌ । अन्तर्धाय विचित्रेषु चचार गिरिसानुषु,पूँछके फटकारनेकी आवाजसे वह महान्‌ पर्वत हिल उठा। उसके शिखर झूमते-से जान पड़े और वह सब ओरसे टूट-फ़ूटकर बिखरने लगा। वह शब्द मतवाले हाथीके चिग्धाड़ोेकी आवाजको भी दबाकर विचित्र पर्वत-शिखरोंपर चारों ओर फैल गया

Transliteration

sa lāḍūlaravas tasya mattavāraṇa-niḥsvanam | antardhāya vicitreṣu cacāra girisānuṣu ||

Translation

वैशम्पायन बोले—उसकी पूँछ की फटकार का वह चटाकेदार नाद, जो मतवाले हाथी के चिग्घाड़ से भी बढ़कर था, मानो क्षण भर को लुप्त होकर फिर विचित्र पर्वत-ढालों और कन्दराओं में घूमता-फिरता चारों ओर फैल गया।

Word by Word

सःhe

लाडूल-रवःthe sound (rava) of the lādūla (tail/whisk-like appendage)

तस्यof him/of that

मत्त-वारण-निःस्वनम्the trumpeting/roar (niḥsvana) of an intoxicated elephant

अन्तर्धायhaving concealed/overpowered (lit. having made disappear)

विचित्रेषुin/among wondrous (places)

चचारroamed/wandered

गिरि-सानुषुon the mountain-slopes/ridges

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

mountain slopes/ridges (girisānu)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how power can be sensed through its effects even when its source is unseen: a reminder to read signs carefully in the wilderness of life, where hidden forces—fear, desire, or destiny—may move silently yet leave unmistakable traces.

What is happening in the narrative?

A being or object (contextually already introduced) moves through the mountain terrain; it becomes hidden from view, yet its loud, crackling roar—surpassing even an intoxicated elephant’s trumpeting—echoes across the varied mountain slopes and peaks.