वैशंपायन उवाच
तत्र तेषु शयानेषु हिडिम्बो नाम राक्षसः ॥
अविदूरे वनात् तस्माच् छालवृक्षम् उपाश्रितः ॥
क्रूरो मानुषमांसादो महावीर्यो महाबलः ॥
विरूपरूपः पिङ्गाक्षः करालो घोरदर्शनः ॥
पिशितेप्सुः क्षुधार्तस् तान् अपश्यत यदृच्छया ॥
ऊर्ध्वाङ्गुलिः स कण्डूयन् धुन्वन् रूक्षाञ् शिरोरुहान् ॥
जृम्भमाणो महावक्त्रः पुनः पुनर् अवेक्ष्य च ॥
दुष्टो मानुषमांसादो महाकायो महाबलः ॥
आघ्राय मानुषं गन्धं भगिनीम् इदम् अब्रवीत् ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
tatra teṣu śayāneṣu hiḍimbo nāma rākṣasaḥ ||
avidūre vanāt tasmāc chālavṛkṣam upāśritaḥ ||
krūro mānuṣamāṃsādo mahāvīryo mahābalaḥ ||
virūparūpaḥ piṅgākṣaḥ karālo ghoradarśanaḥ ||
piśitepsuḥ kṣudhārtas tān apaśyata yadṛcchayā ||
ūrdhvāṅguliḥ sa kaṇḍūyan dhunvan rūkṣāñ śiroruhān ||
jṛmbhamāṇo mahāvaktraḥ punaḥ punar avekṣya ca ||
duṣṭo mānuṣamāṃsādo mahākāyo mahābalaḥ ||
āghrāya mānuṣaṃ gandhaṃ bhaginīm idam abravīt ||
Vaishampayana said: 'There, while they slept, a rakshasa named Hidimba — sitting not far from that forest in a sala tree, a fierce man-eater, of great strength, misshapen, tawny-eyed, fanged, terrible to behold, craving flesh, tormented by hunger — saw them by chance. Scratching himself with raised fingers, shaking his coarse hair, yawning with his huge maw and gazing at them again and again, the malicious man-eater of enormous body, having smelled the scent of humans, said this to his sister.'
3266677e50fc · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:03:09 PM UTC
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Here the rakshasa manifests himself — the embodiment of raw, predatory nature (tamas). The description is telling: a misshapen, tawny-eyed, fanged, hungry man-eater — an image of unrestrained carnal craving devoid of any dharma. Here is the personification of the lowest, demonic nature, living only by devouring and violence. Telling too is the proximity: beside the righteous Pandavas lurks their opposite — a being of pure predation. Thus scripture sets side by side two poles: the dharma of the sleeping righteous and the adharma of the waking man-eater; and in the clash to come it will show that strength sanctified by dharma (Bhima) overcomes the demon's brute power.