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The Thirty-First Chapter
With their trunks raised high, the elephants trumpeted, spraying water into the sky, which, as it fell, resembled a crystal rod. (133) Some of the elephants, their fatigue washed away by their immersion in the water, were happily munching on lotus stalks. (134) Others, adorned with lotus stalks placed on their tusks, seemed to have sprouted new shoots from their tusks, as if they were constantly being watered. (135) One elephant, intoxicated with madness, mistook a lotus stalk he had raised with his trunk for a rope and doubled it, offering it to his handler. (136) A timid elephant, pulling at a lotus stalk stuck to his foot, mistook it for a chain and remained on the bank of the lake, fearing it. (137) Standing with lotuses raised in their trunks, the elephants seemed to be offering them as an oblation, remembering the gods. (138) Their bodies washed by the waves of the lake, the tall elephants were adorned with the pollen of the dense lotuses, as if they had been bathed and decorated. (139) It is fitting that the birds, having abandoned the lake water surrounded by elephants, have gone to the shore, for the weak must do what is right. (140) Even though their bodies were cleansed by their immersion in the lakes, some elephants, throwing up dust, were again making themselves dirty. (141) "We are Chandals by birth, and we are further excited by our madness (the liquid flowing from our temples). Where can we find purity?" It was as if the elephants had thrown dust on themselves, thinking this. (142)
**Vasantatilaka Vritta**
Thus, the elephants, having sported in the lakes for a long time, and having calmed their inner heat with the water, went to the trees on the shore. They did not, however, give up their constant attachment to the water. (143)