बिम्बा / बिम्बाफल —Bimbā / Bimbāphala
HINDI NAME - बिम्बा
SANSKRIT NAME - बिम्बाफल
BOTANICAL NAME - Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt
Sanskrit verse in Devanagari
उत्तरमेघः — श्लोक २२
Transliteration
tanvī śyāmā śikhari-daśanā pakva-bimbādharoṣṭhī
madhye kṣāmā cakita-hariṇī-prekṣaṇā nimna-nābhiḥ |
śroṇī-bhārād alasa-gamanā stoka-namrā stanābhyāṃ
yā tatra syād yuvati-viṣaye sṛṣṭir ādyeva dhātuḥ || 2.22 ||
Plant part in the verse
English translation
She is slender, dark-hued, with delicate pointed teeth, and with a lower lip like the ripe Bimba fruit. Her waist is thin, her eyes are startled like those of a deer, her navel is deep, her movement is slow because of the weight of her hips, and she bends slightly under the fullness of her breasts. In the matter of feminine beauty, she seems to be the Creator’s first and finest creation.
Literary meaning
She is slender, dark-hued, with delicate pointed teeth, and with a lower lip like the ripe Bimba fruit. Her waist is thin, her eyes are startled like those of a deer, her navel is deep, her movement is slow because of the weight of her hips, and she bends slightly under the fullness of her breasts. In the matter of feminine beauty, she seems to be the Creator’s first and finest creation.
Why did Kālidāsa select Lal Asoka?
1. For exact colour
2. For shape and softness
3. For ripeness
The word पक्व is crucial. A green Bimba fruit would not work. The ripe fruit gives fullness, sweetness and maturity.
4. For contrast with the beloved’s complexion
The Yakṣiṇī is described as श्यामा, dark-hued. Against that complexion, the red Bimba-like lower lip becomes especially vivid.
5. For emotional intimacy
This is not a public garden scene; it is the Yakṣa’s private description of his beloved. The fruit comparison makes the portrait tender and sensuous.
6. For literary familiarity
Bimba was already a recognised poetic plant for lip comparison. Kālidāsa uses it with precision and economy.
Kālidāsa selected Bimbā because its ripe red fruit is the perfect living simile for the beloved’s lower lip. It carries redness, freshness, softness, ripeness and sweetness in one compact image.
