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CHAPTER VI EMANCIPATION OF AJITA SVĀMIN AND SAGARA
Grief of the people at their death (1-46) Then a great outcry arose from the soldiers in the Cakrin's army, like that of sea-monsters in an ocean that was going dry. Some fell on the ground in a swoon, as if they had eaten kimpākas, 384 as if they had drunk poison, as if they had been bitten by serpents. Some struck their own heads like cocoanuts; some beat their breasts again and again as if they had committed a crime. Some, after taking steps, stopped, confused about what to do, like women; others climbed precipices like monkeys, intending to jump. Some drew their knives, like Yama's tongue, from their scabbards, intending to cut their own abdomens, like cutting pumpkins. Others, intending to hang themselves on the branches of trees, tied their upper-garments to them, as they had formerly tied pleasure-swings. Some tore out the hair on their heads like kuša-grass in a field. Some threw away the ornaments on their bodies, like drops of perspiration. Some stood absorbed in thought, resting their cheeks on their hands, like a decrepit-looking wall that has a post added as a prop. Some, removing upper and lower garments also, rolled on the ground with trembling limbs, like crazy people. The women of the household uttered different lamentations, like ospreys in the air, that made the heart tremble:
“O Fate, why did you commit this half-murder, taking our husbands and leaving life in us? O goddess earth, be gracious, burst open, and give us a chasm. Surely, the earth is a refuge of those who have fallen even from a
884 2. The Tricosanthes, which has a very disagreeable taste.
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