Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 23: Lakṣmaṇa’s Arguments
Text 2.23.2
तदा तु बद्ध्वा भ्रुकुटीं भ्रुवोर्मध्ये नरर्षभः।
निशश्वास महासर्पो बिलस्थ इव रोषितः॥
tadā tu baddhvā bhru-kuṭīṁ bhruvor madhye nara-rṣabhaḥ
niśaśvāsa mahā-sarpo bilastha iva roṣitaḥ
tadā tu = then; baddhvā bhru-kuṭīm bhruvoḥ madhye = frowned His eyebrows and; nara-rṣabhaḥ = Prince Lakṣmaṇa; niśaśvāsa = sighed; mahā-sarpaḥ = great snake; bilasthaḥ = in the hole of a box; iva = like; roṣitaḥ = an angered.
Prince Lakṣmaṇa then frowned His eyebrows and sighed like an angered great snake in the hole of a box.
Tu indicates that He was in a different state [of mind] than that described in the previous verse.
GLOSS. The example of a snake here indicates that the poet Śrī Vālmīki understood that Lakṣmaṇa is Śeṣa.