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SETUBANDHA
87 the sun with its rays as it stood beside it;5 just as the Mandara mountain, encircled by the great serpent (Vāsuki), and held fast by Vişnu with his arms, convulsed the waters of the ocean (during the churning).6
9. It dispelled the gloom of the nether regions with the radiance of its bejewelled base, scraped by the gems on the head of the serpent Ananta;7 while it plunged the sky into darkness, because the orb of the sun disappeared in the recesses of its rugged and lofty peaks.
. 10.. Streaks of nectar ran down its dark rocky wall, scraped by the side of the (passing) moon;8 and the track of the Sun's chariot could be recognised, because it profusely emitted vapours, when flooded with moonbeams.9
11. With the moon clinging to the summit, and patches of water-filled clouds thinly scattered on the flanks, the mountain at night looked like an elephant of the gods, holding aloft a torn lotus-stalk (with its trunk), with its body spattered here and there with mud.10
12. The courses of the streams flowing from the summit were seen from afar, revealed by lines of verdant woods; and the young shoots, torn and withered by the wind, were refreshed in contact with the back of the moon.
13. The peaks soared, and the vast and clear reflection of the mountain was seen in the waters of the sea. It seemed as if it were struck by portentous lightning, and being riven asunder at the top, one side of it had fallen into the sea.
5. See verse 38.
6. The ocean was churned by the gods and demons, using the Mandara mountain as a churn-staff, with Väsuki serving as a rope.
7. See verse 7. 8. The moon is supposed to be composed of nectar.
9. The misty exhalation on the mountain at night is fancied as being caused by the flaming track of the sun being quenched by the rays of the moon, cool as a shower.
10. The moon is likened to a torn lotus stalk, and the patches of clouds to spattered mud.
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