तस्य शब्दो महानासीत् निर्घातसमनिस्वन:। भूमिकम्पश्च सुमहान् पर्वतस्येव दीर्यत:
Meaning
It generated a loud sound like the clap of thunder, like the trembling of the earth and the splitting of a mountain.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| tasya śabdaḥ mahān āsīt | तस्य शब्दः महान् आसीत् | its sound was great | Genitive / Nominative / Nominative / Verb (imperfect) |
| nirghāta-sama-nisvanaḥ | निर्घात-सम-निस्वनः | resembling the roar of a thunderbolt | Nominative |
| bhūmi-kampaḥ ca su-mahān | भूमि-कम्पः च सु-महान् | and a very great trembling of the earth | Nominative / Adverbial / Nominative |
| parvatasya iva dīryataḥ | पर्वतस्य इव दीर्यतः | as of a mountain splitting | Genitive / Comparative / Genitive (participle) |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source identifies the explosive sound of the bow's breaking as the primordial syllable 'Om' -- the sound once produced by Shiva's drum to convey the maheshvara sutras, sounds so subtle that even sages like Sanaka and Sanandana needed Nandi, Shiva's bull, to decipher them; ordinary people, unaccustomed to such sound, experience it as a deafening blast, which is why everyone but Vishvamitra, Janaka, Rama, and Lakshmana swoons. It cites a Yajur Veda passage on Shiva's peace-bestowing names: namaH shambhave ca mayo bhave ca namaH shankaraaya ca mayaskaraaya ca namaH shivaaya ca shivataraaya ca. The source further maps the bow's three physical parts onto the three syllables of 'Om' -- the upper piece as 'a' (Vishnu), the lower piece as 'u' (Lakshmana or any devoted adherent), and the bowstring as 'ma' (Goddess Lakshmi, forever clinging to the Supreme Person) -- with a fuller account of this symbolism cross-referenced to Aranya Kanda 3.11.1.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.67.18 · Bāla Kāṇḍa