Lanka Kaanda
168 - Mandodari makes remonstrance with Ravana again and dwells upon Sri Rama's glory
Chaupais
Description
"The subterranean regions (Patala) are His feet and the abode of Brahma His head; while the other (intermediate) spheres are located in His other limbs. Terrible Death is the mere contraction of His eyebrows, the sun is His eye and the mass of clouds His locks. The twin-born gods Asvinikumaras (the celestial physicians) are His nostrils and the alternating days and nights constitute the repeated twinkling of His eyelids; while the ten quarters of the heavens are His ears: so declare the Vedas. The winds are His breath and the Vedas, His own speech; greed is His lower lip and Yama (the god who sits in judgment on the dead), His dreadful teeth; Maya (cosmic illusion) is His laughter and the regents* of the ten quarters, His arms; fire is His mouth and Varuna (the god presiding over the waters), His tongue; while the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe are His gestures. The eighteen principal species of the vegetable kingdom constitute the line of hair on His belly, the mountains are His bones and the rivers represent the network of His veins. The ocean is His belly and the inferno, His organs of urination and excretion. In short, the universe is a manifestation of the Lord and it is no use going into further details.