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100
SETUBANDHA
9. The expanses of the regions of the sky appeared to shrink, and the circle of the earth was darkened by the shades of evening. A tiny part of the day still remained, and a faint light lingered on the peaks of the mountains.
10. As the day, like an elephant of the gods, hit the slope of the mountain of sunset, raising a cloud of dust, the evening glow, the orb of the sun appeared to be tumbling like a dislodged peak of the mountain composed of red earth. " 11. The petals of the day lotus blossoms, drooping on account of the fading daylight, closed at the end of the day, with the dripping honey wiped away by the agile wings of the bees, enlivened by the honey of the flowers.
12. The setting sun as well as Rāvaņa, bereft of lustre because of impending ruin, both looked alike, hemmed in by the dust of the earth struck by the feet of the apes.
13. Abandoning the earth, the day, faint as it hovered in the sky, faded away, with the sun half gone down, and the remaining light lingering on the mountain heights.6
14. As the sun was flung (to the west) by the day, even as a tree is thrown backwards by a wild elephant, its extensive, thinly scattered mass of rays, shooting upward, looked like the roots (of an uprooted tree).
* 15. Thereupon the orb of the sun sank in its own blood, the evening glow, as if it were the terrible first head of Rāvana, severed and immersed in its gore.
16. The petals of the day lotus blossoms, even though closed in the absence of the sun, parted, because they were bowed down with the weight of the bees, and made heavy by the pollen issuing from the mature filaments.
17. The massive lustre (of the setting sun), uneven with lengthening rays, and spreading in the west, seemed to be the dusty trail of the day while it was snatched away by the jaws of Death.
6. Lit. on the high places.
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