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406
Arkakeerti, indicating his own desire, said that the Mahapurana was a mere figment of imagination. He urged his elephant forward, as if it were his own victory. ||16||
"The flags of his army are blown backwards by the adverse wind, their bells toll faintly, their festive spirit is dampened, the flow of intoxication from their temples has dried up, their faces are devoid of luster, their brilliance is like that of a extinguished lamp, they are unable to bear the weight of their weapons, they are urged forward with great difficulty by their mahouts, they roar with a choked voice, they are terrified by the battle and by other inauspicious signs, their speed is lost, and they move like immobile mountains." ||200-203||
The elephants were naturally slow, the deer-like elephants were moving slowly out of fear of battle, and the Bhadra elephants were moving slowly without any reason, but their slow movement in battle was an inauspicious sign. ||204||
Just as the secret servants of a man who desires victory but is devoid of merit are in vain, so too were the prayers of the mahouts to Arkakeerti's elephants in vain. ||205||
On the other hand, Jayakumar, whose eyes shone like the blossoms of the Kalpavriksha, whose bow was strung with arrows and whose form was like that of a coiled serpent, whose body was raised in anger, who was terrifying, who was aiming his arrows at his enemy with his gaze, and whose valor was like that of a lion, roared like a thundercloud, mounted on his excellent elephant Vijaya, whose form was like that of the peak of Mount Meru, as the adverse wind blew. ||206-208||