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## The Eighth Chapter
177
Arise, O Lord, and seek refuge in someone. Be gracious to us. Fly up to the sky quickly and protect our precious lives. ||123||
Or, remain hidden in this Jain temple until these cruel men see your form. ||124||
Hearing these pitiful words and seeing the approaching army, Dashaanan turned his eyes, white like the moon and red like the lotus. ||125||
He said to the maidens, "Surely you do not know our prowess, therefore you speak thus. Consider this: what can many crows do to a Garuda, even if they gather together?" ||126||
"A lone lion cub, with his mane flowing, does not destroy a herd of maddened elephants?" ||127||
Hearing Dashaanan's words filled with valor, the maidens said again, "O Lord, if you think so, then protect our father, brothers, and relatives. Do not kill them in battle." ||128||
"My dear ones, it shall be so. Do not fear. I will comfort you until this army arrives." ||129||
Then, mounting a chariot created by knowledge, Ravana ascended to the sky and began to chew his lips with his teeth. ||130||
His very limbs, upon experiencing the festival of battle, swelled so much and became so rough with excitement that they could barely fit in the sky. ||131||
Then, just as clouds pour down thick streams of water on a mountain, all the warriors began to hurl weapons at Dashaanan. ||132||
Dashaanan then began to rain down stones. With some, he blocked the enemy's weapons, and with others, he terrified the enemy army. ||133||
"What good will it do me to kill these wretched, lowly Vidyadharas?" Thinking this, he turned his gaze upon the three chief Vidyadharas: Surasunder, Kanak, and Budh. ||134||
Then, with a weapon of darkness, he blinded them, rendering them motionless. He bound them with a serpent's noose and brought them before the three maidens. ||135||