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SETUBANDHA
29
17-19. Jämbavat then spoke, raising his chest, which was broad like a plot of ground, and revealed as the wrinkles disappeared numerous large cavities left by wounds (in wars).
With the lustre of his eyes hidden by the brows drooping with age, he looked as if he were a mountain, with the sheen of its plants obscured by an adjoining bank of white clouds.10
Holding the apes in check with a gesture of his hands, with his flashing eyes11 fixed on Sugrīva, he seemed to be a forest fire touching the trees with the flames, and reddening the adjacent mountain with the sparks 12
20. 'I remember the heaven when it was without the Pārijāta tree; Vişnu's bosom when it was without the Kaustubha gem and the goddess of wealth; and the great mass of Siva's matted hair when it was without the young moon, all before the churning of the ocean.13
21. 'I saw the Fortune (of Hiranyakaśipu) as she followed the bleeding heart of the mighty demon, torn out by Vişnu's nails, and held in his hands, as if it were her own lotus hand forcibly grasped by him.14
22. 'I remember how Hiranyäksa's bosom, pierced by the tusk of the Great Boar, was held aloft, with the heart, strong as a mountain, rooted out; even like the earth that was raised from the ocean, with the mountains torn from their roots.15
23. 'Despondency destroys fortitude, the frenzy of youth discipline, and passion the sense of shame. Tell (me) if old age that
10. The white hair of Jambavat's eyebrows is likened to the clouds, and the lustre of his eyes to that of the plants.
11. Lit. the bright lustre of the eyes.
12. The raised hands of Jămbavat as he enjoined discipline on the apes are likened to the flames, and the apes to the trees; while his eyes flashing fire and fixed on Sugrīva are likened to the sparks covering the mountain.
13. i.e., he existed even when the Pārijāta, the moon and the rest were in the ocean, and had not yet been appropriated by the various gods as a result of the churning.
14. The bleeding heart of Hiranyakaśipu killed by Vişnu in his ManLion incarnation is fancied as the rosy hand of the demon king's Fortune seized by his victorious adversary.
15. The demon Hiranyakșa was killed by Vişnu in his Boar incarnation as he tried to prevent him from raising the earth submerged in the ocean.
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