Shloka 35
Varuṇābhiṣeka–Agni-anveṣaṇa–Kaubera-tīrtha
Varuṇa’s Consecration; Search for Agni; Kaubera Sacred Site
कितनोंकी कान्ति अरुणवर्णकी है। वे सभी महान् भोगोंसे सम्पन्न हैं। उनके केश बड़े- बड़े और वस्त्र उज्ज्वल हैं। वे ऊपरकी ओर वेणी धारण करनेवाली, भूरी आँखोंसे सुशोभित तथा लम्बी मेखलासे अलंकृत हैं ।। लम्बोदर्यो लम्बकर्णास्तथा लम्बपयोधरा: । ताम्राक्ष्यस्ताम्रवर्णाश्च हर्यक्ष्यक्ष तथा परा:,उनमेंसे किन्हींके उदर, किन्हींके कान तथा किन्हींके दोनों स्तन लंबे हैं। कितनोंकी आँखें ताँबेके समान लाल रंगकी हैं। कुछ मातृकाओंके शरीरकी कान्ति भी ताम्रवर्णकी हैं। बहुतोंकी आँखें काले रंगकी हैं
vaiśampāyana uvāca | lambodaryo lambakarṇās tathā lambapayodharāḥ | tāmrākṣyas tāmravarṇāś ca haryakṣyaś ca tathā parāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Among those female beings, some had pendulous bellies, some had long ears, and others had heavy, elongated breasts. Some were copper-red eyed, some were copper-hued in complexion, and others again had greenish-dark eyes.” The verse heightens the ominous atmosphere by cataloguing striking, non-human bodily features—an aesthetic of the uncanny that signals the eruption of fearful forces amid the war narrative.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive: it uses vivid, unsettling physical imagery to mark an inauspicious, fear-laden moment in the war narrative. Ethically, it functions as a literary signal that adharma and violence draw forth terrifying forces and destabilize the human world.
Vaiśampāyana is describing a group of uncanny female figures (as part of an ominous scene), distinguishing them by unusual bodily traits and eye/skin colors. The catalog-like description intensifies the sense of dread and portent surrounding the events of the Shalya Parva.