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SETUBANDHA
50. "How will one who becomes the object of my wrath be the object of another's wrath ?37 He that is beheld by a serpent with venom in its eyes is not seen again by another of its kind.'38
51. Meanwhile, the suddenly emerging lustre of a multitude of demons began to be seen in the sky. Blending with the glitter of their crowns, it39 appeared to be reddish like patches of dark clouds suffused with the glow of the morning sun.
52. They then beheld the demons, who scattered the clouds in the sky with the fringes of their robes, rustling in the gust of wind caused by their speed, with massive flashes of lightning playing in the sunlight.40
53. As the demons descended from the sky, like meteors at the epoch of universal ruin, the host of apes made a move to attack them, even as the earth moves at that epoch, raising the mountain peaks.41
54. The sky, with the clouds scattered below, 42 and appearing to move as the host of apes took their stand on high and low ground 43 seemed to be falling, displaced and loose, and helpless and reeling.
55. Thereupon Hanumat held the host of apes in check, and brought Vibhîşaņa to Rāma, as if he were a second message from Lankā;44 (Vibhişana) whom he had seen there, and whose nature he had observed.
56. As he bowed down at Rāma's feet in humility, the latter raised his head from the ground with his hands, as a mark of honour; verily it was thereby exalted high above the race of demons.
37. i.e., will not live to incur the wrath of another person. 38. Such a serpent is believed to kill its victim with its eyes. 39. i.e., the black colour of the demons. 40. Regarded as a phenomenon of bad omen. See Madhava in Extracts.
41. The reference is to the convulsive movements of the earth at the epoch of destruction. Cf. Madhava in Extracts.
42. i.e., by the demons as they rushed down from the sky. 43. Cf. Madhava in Extracts. 44. For the first message see 1.37 ff.
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