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SETUBANDHA
131 58. Indrajit's armour, hollow in the middle,30 bulged on his (high) bosom: it glistened with the clearly visible smooth scrape left by the stout tusks of the Airāvata elephant that had glanced off the coat of mail31 (in the fight with Indra).
59. As the armour of Atikāya slowly reached down to the thighs, the sky, no longer suffused with the lustre of his body,32 looked as if it were rid of a patch of black cloud. 33
60. Eager for battle, Dhūmrāksa was annoyed to have worn a coat of mail, which, because the clasp had been torn away by the thunderbolt 34 turned over on his bosom, laying bare his shoulders.
61. The long healed wounds of Asaniprabha burst in a rage, and blood trickled for a long while through the apertures of his coat of mail, like a stream of blood from a portentous cloud.
62. As Nikumbha's bosom heaved with wrath, his ring-mail, being strained 35 and stretched, cracked, with the chinks clearly visible, and the iron rings torn asunder.
63. Suka36 put on a well-protected armour, capable of resisting the weapons of the gods, but was unaware of the imminent danger from Rāma's irresistible arrows. * 64. Säraņa 37 went forth without wearing any armour, preserying thereby the imprint of the ornamental paint of the bosom of his mistress on his body, as a token of her eager and close embrace as he hastily took leave of her.
65. Kumbha's chariot, which had for its banner a roaring shadow created by magic, was yoked with lions; while the serpents,
30. i.e., in the region of the waist.
31. The elephant had hit the armour with its tusks, but failed to pierce it. See Kulanātha in Extracts.
32. Lit. bereft of the lustre of his body.
33. i.e., the sky was no longer darkened by the huge swarthy figure of the demon, because it was hidden in the armour. Cf. Madhava in Extracts.
34. In Rāvana's war with Indra. 35. Forced upward, acc. to Rāmadāsa's reading. 36. Rāvana's minister. 37. Another minister of Ravana.
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