Shloka 15

Gandhamādana-praveśa and the Sudden Storm (गन्धमादनप्रवेशः — चण्डवातवर्षवर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

एतद्‌ विकीर्ण सुश्रीमत्‌ कैलासशिखरोपमम्‌ । यत्‌ पश्यसि नरश्रेष्ठ पर्वतप्रतिमं स्थितम्‌,“नरश्रेष्ठ यह जो सब ओर बिखरी हुई कैलासशिखरके समान सुन्दर प्रकाशयुक्त पर्वताकार वस्तु देख रहे हो, ये सब विशालकाय नरकासुरकी हडियाँ हैं। पर्वत और शिलाखण्डोंपर स्थित होनेके कारण ये भी पर्वतके समान ही प्रतीत होती हैं

Transliteration

etad vikīrṇaṁ suśrīmat kailāsaśikharopamam | yat paśyasi naraśreṣṭha parvatapratimaṁ sthitam ||

Translation

โลมศะกล่าวว่า— “โอ บุรุษผู้ประเสริฐ! สิ่งที่เจ้ามองเห็นกระจัดกระจายอยู่รอบด้าน งามเรืองรองดุจยอดเขาไกรลาส และนอนทอดอยู่ดั่งภูผา—นั่นคือกองมหึมาซึ่งปรากฏประหนึ่งภูเขา”

Word by Word

• {'etad': 'this (that which is before you)', 'vikīrṇam': 'scattered, strewn about', 'suśrīmat': 'splendid, radiant, beautiful with luster', 'kailāsa-śikhara-upamam': 'comparable to the peak of (Mount) Kailāsa', 'yat': 'which', 'paśyasi': 'you see', 'nara-śreṣṭha': 'O best of men (honorific address)', 'parvata-pratimam': 'like a mountain

• mountain-shaped', 'sthitam': 'lying/standing there

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Lomaśa
• Kailāsa
• Naraśreṣṭha (addressee, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)
• Narakāsura (contextual identification in the passage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse evokes awe at a dazzling, mountain-like sight, and—through the contextual identification of it as the remains of a fallen giant—underscores impermanence: even the mighty are reduced to remnants, while appearances can mislead without wise guidance.

What is happening in the narrative?

During the Pāṇḍavas’ forest journey, the sage Lomaśa points out a striking, scattered, luminous mass resembling Mount Kailāsa’s summit. He addresses the listener as ‘best of men’ and explains (in the surrounding narration) that this mountain-like appearance is actually the enormous bones/remains of Narakāsura lying among rocks, hence seeming like a mountain.