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83
VĀSUPUJYACARITRA
fell in the chariot, and was fanned by Vijaya who used the end of his garment as a fan. Becoming conscious after a moment, Särngin took the enemy's cakra that had come near like a minister with whom there had been a quarrel, and spoke as follows:
"The cakra is your wealth of weapons. Its strength has been seen such as it is. Save your life and go. A living man sees fair things."
Tāraka replied: "I discharged the cakra. After seizing it, like a dog a clod that has been thrown, what do you say, indeed! Throw it! Throw it! Seizing it with my hand, or rather, striking it, I shall crush it like unbaked earth." Then Sarngin whirled the cakra which resembled a revolving sun and hurled it at Prativiṣņu, terrifying the Khecaras. It cut off Taraka's head as easily as a lotusstalk and returned to Sarngin's hand. A rain of flowers fell from the sky on Dvipṛṣṭha and tears from the women of his household fell on Taraka. The kings also who had been Taraka's partisans yielded to superior force and protected themselves from Dvipṛṣṭha. For this is the expedient in the case of the powerful.
Expedition of conquest (276-281)
He subdued all the southern half of Bharata just by making a march, surrounded by very strong military forces. He conquered the gods-the lords of Magadha, Varadāman, and Prabhasa-as easily as one vassal. Madhava returned from the expedition of conquest and went to the Magadhas where he saw a big rock being lifted by a crore of men. He, cruel to his enemies, raised it with his left arm to his forehead as easily as an elephant raising a lotus-plant. After putting it in the proper place, Vişņu, the chief of all the powerful, went to Dvārakā in a few days. Visņu's coronation as ardhacakrin was made by all the kings, when he had been installed on the lion-throne by Brahma and Vijaya.
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