Obeisance to the Arhats!
Obeisance to the Liberated Ones!
Obeisance to the Religious Guides!
Obeisance to the Religious Instructors! Obeisance to all Saints in the World!
This fivefold obeisance, destroying all sins, is of all benedictions the principal benediction.
In that period, in that age lived the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, the five (most important moments of whose life happened) when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalgunî; to wit, in Uttaraphalgunî he descended (from heaven), and having descended (thence), he entered the womb (of Devânandâ); in Uttaraphalgunî he was removed from the womb (of Devânandâ) to the womb (of Trisalâ); in Uttaraphalgunî he was born; in Uttaraphalgunî, tearing out his hair, he left the house and entered the state of houselessness; in Uttaraphalgunî he obtained the highest knowledge and intuition, called Kevala, which is infinite, supreme, unobstructed, unimpeded, complete, and perfect. But in. Svâti the Venerable One obtained final liberation.
In that period, in that age the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, having on the sixth day of the fourth month of summer, in the eighth fortnight, the light (fortnight) of Ashâdha, descended from the great Vimâna, the all-victorious and all-prosperous Pushpottara, which is like the lotus amongst the best things, where he had lived for twenty Sâgaropamas till the termination of his allotted length of life, of his (divine nature, and of his existence (among gods); here in the continent of Gambûdvîpa, in Bharatavarsha,— when of this Avasarpinî era the Sushama-sushamâ, the Sushamâ, and Sushamaduhshamâ periods, and the greater part of the Duhshamasushamâ period (containing a Kodâkodi of Sâgaropamas, less forty-two thousand years) had elapsed, and only seventy-two years, eight and a half months were left, after twenty-one Tirthakaras of the race of Ikshvâku and of the Kâsyapa gotra, and two of the race of Hari and of the Gautama gotra, on the whole twenty-three Tîrthakaras had appeared,— the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvirâ, the last of the Tîrthakaras, took the form of an embryo in the womb of Devânandâ, of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, the wife of the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta, of the gotra of Kodâla, in the brahmanical part of the town Kundagrâma in the middle of the night, when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalgunî, after his allotted length of life, of his (divine) nature, and of his existence (amongst gods) had come to their termination.(2)
In that night in which the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra took the form of an embryo in the womb of the Brahmani Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, the Brâhmanî Devânandâ was on her couch, taking fits of sleep, in a state between sleeping and waking, and having seen the following fourteen illustrious, beautiful, lucky, blest, auspicious, fortunate great dreams, she woke up.(3) To wit:
An elephant, a bull, a lion, the anointing (of the goddess Srî), a garland, the moon, the sun, a flag, a vase, a lotus lake, the ocean, a celestial abode, a heap of jewels, and a flame.(4)
When the Brâhmanî Devânandâ, having seen these dreams, woke up, she— glad, pleased, and joyful in her mind, delighted, extremely enraptured, with a heart widening under the influence of happiness, with the hair of her body all erect in their pores like the flowers of the Kadamba touched by rain-drops— firmly fixed the dreams (in her mind), and rose from her couch. Neither hasty nor trembling, with a quick and even gait, like that of the royal swan, she went to the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta, and gave him the greeting of victory. Then she comfortably sat down in an excellent chair of state; calm and composed, joining the palms of her hands so as to bring the ten nails together, she laid the folded hands on her head, and spoke thus:(5)
‘O beloved of the gods, I was just now on my couch taking fits of sleep, in a state between sleeping and waking, when I saw the following fourteen illustrious,&c., great dreams; to wit, an elephant,&c.(6)
‘O beloved of the gods, what, to be sure, will be the happy result portended by these fourteen illustrious,&c., great dreams?’ (7)
When the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta had heard and perceived this news from the Brâhmanî Devânandâ, he, glad, pleased, and joyful (see § 5, down to) rain-drops, firmly fixed the dreams (in his mind), and entered upon considering them. He grasped the meaning of those dreams with his own innate intellect and intuition, which were preceded by reflection, and thus spoke to the Brâhmanî Devânandâ:(8)
‘O beloved of the gods, you have seen illustrious dreams; O beloved of the gods, you have seen beautiful, lucky, blest, auspicious, fortunate dreams, which will bring health, joy, long life, bliss, and fortune! We shall have success, O beloved of the gods, we shall have pleasure; we shall have happiness, O beloved of the gods, we shall have a son! Indeed, O beloved of the gods, after the lapse of nine complete months and seven and a half days you will give birth to a lovely and handsome boy with tender hands and feet, with a body containing the entire and complete five organs of sense, with the lucky signs, marks, and good qualities; a boy on whose body all limbs will be well formed, and of full volume, weight, and length, of a lovely figure like that of the moon!(9) And this boy, after having passed his childhood and, with just ripened intellect, having reached the state of youth, will repeat, fully understand, and well retain (in his mind) the four Vedas: the Rig-veda, Yagur-veda, Sâma-veda, Atharva-veda— to which the Itihâsa is added as a fifth, and the Nigghantu as a sixth (Veda)— together with their Aṅgas and Upâṅgas, and the Rahasya he will know the six Aṅgas, he will be versed in the philosophy of the sixty categories and well grounded in arithmetic, in phonetics, ceremonial, grammar, metre, etymology, and astronomy and in many other brahmanical [and monastic] sciences besides.(10) Therefore, O beloved of the gods, you have seen illustrious dreams, &c. (see § 9).'
In this way he repeatedly expressed his extreme satisfaction.(11)
When the Brâhmanî Devânandâ had heard and perceived this news from the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta, she— glad, pleased, and joyful, &c.(see § 5)— joining the palms of her hands, &c. (see § 5, down to) and spoke thus:(12)
‘That is so, O beloved of the gods; that is exactly so, O beloved of the gods; that is true, O beloved of the gods; that is beyond doubt, O beloved of the gods; that is what I desire, O beloved of the gods; that is what I accept, O beloved of the gods; that is what I desire and accept, O beloved of the gods; that matter is really such as you have pronounced it.’
Thus saying, she accepted the true meaning of the dreams, and enjoyed together with Rishabhadatta the noble permitted pleasures of human nature.(13)
In that period, in that age, Sakra,— the chief and king of the gods, the wielder of the thunderbolt, the destroyer of towns, the performer of a hundred sacrifices, the thousand-eyed one, Maghavan, the punisher of the Daitya Pâka, the lord of the southern half of the earth the lord of the thirty-two thousand celestial abodes, the bestrider of the elephant Airavata, the chief of the Suras, who wears spotless clothes and robes and puts on garlands and the diadem, whose cheeks were stroked by fine, bright, and trembling earrings of fresh gold [the most prosperous, the most brilliant, the most mighty, the most glorious, the most powerful, and the most happy one], with a splendid body, ornamented with a long down-reaching garland,— this Sakra was in the Saudharma Kalpa, in the celestial abode Saudharma Avatamsaka, in the council-hall Sudharman, on his throne Sakra; he who exercises and maintains the supreme command, government management, guidance, direction, and sovereign power and generalship over the thirty-two thousand gods of the celestial abodes, the eighty-four thousand gods of a rank equal with that of himself, the thirty-two chief gods, the four guardians of the world, the eight principal queens with their trains, the three courts, the seven armies, and the seven commanders of these armies. He was then enjoying the permitted pleasures of divine nature under the great din of uninterrupted story-telling, dramatical plays, singing, and music, as beating of time, performance on the Vînâ, the Tûrya, the great drum, and the Patupataha.(14)
And he viewed this whole continent Gambûdvîpa with his extensive (knowledge called) Avadhi. There he saw in the continent Gambûdvîpa, in Bhâratavarsha, in the southern half of Bharata, in the brahmanical part of the town Kundagrâma, the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvira taking the form of an embryo in the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, wife of the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta of the gotra of Kodâla; and— glad, pleased, and joyful in his mind, delighted, extremely enraptured, with a heart widening under the influence of happiness, with the hair of his body bristling and erect in their pores like the fragrant flowers of Nîpa when touched by rain-drops, with his eyes and mouth open like full-blown lotuses, with his excellent, various trembling bracelets, with diadem and earrings, his breast lighted up by necklaces, wearing long and swinging ornaments with a pearl pendant— the chief of the gods rose with confusion, hasty and trembling from his throne, descended from the footstool, took off his shoes which were by a clever artist set with Vaidûrya and excellent Rishta and Añgana and ornamented with glittering jewels and precious stones, threw his seamless robe over his left shoulder, and, arranging the fingers of his hands in the shape of a bud, he advanced seven or eight steps towards the Tîrthakara. Bending his left knee and reposing on the right one, he three times placed his head on the ground and lifted it a little; then he raised his bracelet-encumbered arms, and joining the palms of his hands so as to bring the ten nails together, laid the hands on his head and spoke thus:(15)
‘Reverence to the Arhats and Bhagavats; to the Âdikaras, the Tîrthakaras, the perfectly-enlightened ones; to the highest of men, the lions among men, the flowers among mankind the Gandhahastins among men; to the highest in the world, the guides of the world, the benefactors of the world, the lights of the world, the enlighteners of the world; to the givers of safety, to the givers of sight, to the givers of the road, to the givers of shelter, to the givers of life, to the givers of knowledge to the givers of the law, the preachers of the law, the lords of the law, the leaders of the law, the universal emperors of the best law; to the light, the help, the shelter, the refuge, the resting-place, the possessors of unchecked knowledge and intuition who have got rid of unrighteousness; to the conquerors and the granters of conquest, the saved and the saviours, the enlightened and the enlighteners, the liberated and the liberators, to the all-knowing ones, the all-seeing ones, to those who have reached the happy, stable, unstained, infinite, unperishable, undecaying place, called the path of perfection, whence there is no return; reverence to the Ginas who have conquered fear.
‘Reverence to the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, the Âdikara, the last of the Tirthakaras who was predicted by the former Tirthakaras, &c. I here adore the Revered One yonder, may the Revered One yonder see me here!’ With these words he adored, he worshipped the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvira, and sat down on his excellent throne facing the east. Then the following internal, reflectional, desirable idea occurred to the mind of Sakra, the chief of kings and gods:(16)
‘It never has happened, nor does it happen, nor will it happen, that Arhats, Kakravartins, Baladevas, or Vasudevas, in the past, present, or future, should be born in low families, mean families, degraded families, poor families, indigent families, beggars’ families, or brahmanical families.(17) For indeed Arhats, Kakravartins, Baladevas, and Vasudevas, in the past, present, and future, are born in high families, noble families, royal families, noblemen’s families, in families belonging to the race of Ikshvâku, or of Hari, or in other suchlike families of pure descent on both sides.(18) Now this is something which moves the wonder of the world: it happens in the lapse of numberless Avasarpinîs and Utsarpinîs, because the imperishable, indescribable, and undestroyable Karman relating to name and gotra must take effect, that Arhats,&c., in the past, present, and future, descend in (i.e. take the form of an embryo in the womb of a woman belonging to) low families,&c.; but they are never brought forth by birth from such a womb.(19) This Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, now, in the continent Gambudvîpa, in Bharatavarsha, in the brahmanical part of the town Kundagrâma, has taken the form of an embryo in the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, wife of the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta of the gotra of Kodâla.(20) Hence it is the established custom of all past, present, and future Sakras, chiefs and kings of the gods, to cause the Arhats and Bhagavats to be removed from such-like low, mean,&c., families, to such-like high, noble,&c., families.(21) It is, therefore, better that I should cause the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, the last of the Tîrthakaras who was predicted by the former Tîrthakaras, to be removed from the brahmanical part of the town Kundagrâma, from the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra, wife of the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta of the gotra of Kodâla, to the Kshatriya part of the town Kundagrâma, and to be placed as an embryo in the womb of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ of the Vâsishtha gotra, wife of the Kshatriya Siddhârtha of the Kâsyapa gotra, belonging to the clan of the Gñatri Kshatriya,; and to cause the embryo of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ of the Vâsishtha gotra to be placed in the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra.’
Well, now, beloved of the gods, it never has happened, &c.(§§ 17-20 are verbally repeated).(23-25)
‘Therefore, go now and remove the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira from the brahmanical part,&c., and place the embryo of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ,&c.(see § 21). Having done this, return quickly to report on the execution of my orders.’ (26)
When Harinegamesi, the divine commander of the foot troops, was thus spoken to by Sakra, the chief and king of the gods, he— glad, pleased, and joyful,&c.(see § 15)— laid his folded hands on his head and modestly accepted the words of command, saying, ‘Just as your Majesty commands.’ After this he left the presence of Sakra, the chief and king of the gods, and descended towards the northeastern quarter; then he transformed himself through his magical power of transformation, and stretched himself out for numerous Yoganas like a staff,(during which he seized) jewels, Vagra, Vaidûrya, Lohitâksha, Masâragalla, Hamsagarbha, Pulaka, Saugandhika, Gyotisara, Añgana, Añganapulaka, Gâtarûpa, Subhaga, Sphatika, and Rishta;(of these precious materials) he rejected the gross particles, and retained the subtle particles.(27)
Then for a second time he transformed himself through his magical power of transformation, and produced the definitive form (which gods adopt on entering the world of men); having done so, he passed with that excellent, hasty, trembling, active, impetuous, victorious, exalted, and quick divine motion of the gods right through numberless continents and oceans, and arrived in Gambûdvîpa, in Bharatavarsha, in the brahmanical part of the town Kundagrâma, at the house of the Brâhmana Rishabhadatta, where the Brâhmanî Devânandâ dwelt. Having arrived there, he made his bow in the sight of the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra, and cast the Brâhmanî Devânandâ, together with her retinue, into a deep sleep; then he took off all unclean particles, and brought forth the clean particles, and saying, ‘May the Venerable One permit me,’ he took the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra in the folded palms of his hands without hurting him. Thus he went to the Kshatriya part of the town Kundagrâma, to the house of the Kshatriya Siddhârtha, where the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ dwelt; he cast her and her attendants into a deep sleep, took off all unclean particles, and brought forth the clean particles, and placed the embryo of the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvira in the womb of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ, and the embryo of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ he placed in the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra. Having done so, he returned in that direction in which he had come (28) With that excellent, &c.(see § 28), divine motion of the gods, he flew upwards right through numberless continents and oceans, taking thousands of Yoganas in each motion, and arrived in the Saudharma Kalpa, in the divine abode called Saudharma Avatamsaka, where Sakra, the chief and king of the gods, sat on the throne called Sakra, and reported to Sakra, the chief and king of the gods, on the execution of his orders.
In that period, in that age, on the thirteenth day of the third month of the rainy season, in the fifth fortnight, the dark (fortnight) of Âsvina, after the lapse of eighty-two days, on the eighty-third day current (since his conception), the embryo of the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra was, on the command of Sakra, safely removed by Harinegamesi from the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ to that of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ in the middle of the night, when the moon was in conjunction with the asterism Uttaraphalgunî.(30)
End of the Second Lecture.
In that night in which the embryo of the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra was removed from the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra to that of the Kshatriyanî Trisalâ of the Vasishtha gotra, the former was on her couch taking fits of sleep in a state between sleeping and waking; and seeing that these fourteen illustrious, beautiful, lucky, blest, auspicious, fortunate, great dreams were taken from her by the Kshatriyanî Trisalâ, she awoke.(31)
In that night in which the embryo of the Venerable Ascetic Mahâvîra was removed from the womb of the Brâhmanî Devânandâ of the Gâlandharâyana gotra to that of the Kshatriyânî Trisalâ of the Vâsishtha gotra, the latter was in her dwelling-place, of which the interior was ornamented with pictures, and the outside whitewashed, furbished and cleansed, the brilliant surface of the ceiling was painted, the darkness was dispelled by jewels and precious stones, the floor was perfectly level and adorned with auspicious figures; which, moreover, was furnished with offerings of heaps of delicious, fragrant, strewn flowers of all five colours, was highly delightful through curling, scented fumes of black aloe, the finest Kundurukka and Turushka and burning frankincense; was exquisitely scented with fine perfumes, and turned as it were into a smelling-bottle; on a couch with a mattress of a man’s length, with pillows at head and foot, raised on both sides and hollow in the middle, soft as if one walked on the sand of the banks of the Ganges, covered with the cloth of a robe of ornamented linen, containing a well-worked towel, and hung with red mosquito curtains, delightful, soft to the touch like fur, wadding, Pûra butter, or cotton, with all the comforts of a bed, such as fragrant, excellent flowers and sandal-powder— (in such a room and on such a bed Trisalâ was) taking fits of sleep between sleeping and waking, and having seen the following fourteen, &c.(see § 3), dreams, viz. an elephant, &c.(see § 4), she awoke.(32)
1. Then Trisalâ saw in her first dream a fine, enormous elephant, possessing all lucky marks, with strong thighs and four mighty tusks; who was whiter than an empty great cloud, or a heap of pearls, or the ocean of milk, or the moon-beams, or spray of water, or the silver mountain (Vaitâdhya); whose temples were perfumed with fragrant musk-fluid, which attracted the bees; equalling in dimension the best elephant of the king of the gods (Airâvata); uttering a fine deep sound like the thunder of a big and large rain-cloud.(33)
2. Then she saw a tame, lucky bull, of a whiter hue than that of the mass of petals of the white lotus, illumining all around by the diffusion of a glory of light;(a bull) whose lovely, resplendent, beautiful hump was delightful through the collection of its charms, whose glossy skin (was covered with) thin, fine, soft hairs; whose body was firm, well made, muscular, compact, lovely, well proportioned, and beautiful; whose horns were large, round, excellently beautiful, greased at their tops, and pointed; whose teeth were all equal, shining, and pure. He foreboded innumerable good qualities.(34)
3. Then she saw a handsome, handsomely shaped, playful lion, jumping from the sky towards her face; a delightful and beautiful lion whiter than a heap of pearls,&c.(see § 33), who had strong and lovely fore-arms, and a mouth adorned with round, large, and well-set teeth; whose lovely lips, splendent through their proportions, and soft like a noble lotus, looked as if they were artificially ornamented; whose palate was soft and tender like the petals of the red lotus, and the top of whose tongue was protruding; whose eyes were like pure lightning, and revolved like red-hot excellent gold just poured out from the crucible;(a lion) with broad and large thighs, and with full and excellent shoulders, who was adorned with a mane of soft, white, thin, long hair of the finest quality; whose erect, well-shaped, and well-grown tail was flapping; the tops of whose nails were deeply set and sharp; whose beautiful tongue came out of his mouth like a shoot of beauty.(35)
4. Then she, with the face of the full moon, saw the goddess of famous beauty, Srî, on the top of Mount Himavat, reposing on a lotus in the lotus lake, anointed with the water from the strong and large trunks of the guardian elephants. She sat on a lofty throne. Her firmly placed feet resembled golden tortoises, and her dyed, fleshy, convex, thin, red, smooth nails were set in swelling muscles Her hands and feet were like the leaves of the lotus, and her fingers and toes soft and excellent; her round and well-formed legs were adorned with the Kuruvindâvarta and her knees with dimples. Her fleshy thighs resembled the proboscis of an excellent elephant, and her lovely broad hips were encircled by a golden zone. Her large and beautiful belly was adorned by a circular navel, and contained a lovely row of hairs (black as) collyrium, bees, or clouds, straight, even, continuous, thin, admirable, handsome, soft, and downy. Her waist, which contained the three folds, could be encompassed with one hand. On all parts of her body shone ornaments and trinkets, composed of many jewels and precious stones, yellow and red gold. The pure cup-like pair of her breasts sparkled, encircled by a garland of Kunda flowers, in which glittered a string of pearls. She wore strings of pearls made by diligent and clever artists, shining with wonderful strings, a necklace of jewels with a string of Dînârâs and a trembling pair of earrings, touching her shoulders, diffused a brilliancy; but the united beauties and charms of these ornaments were only subservient to the loveliness of her face Her lovely eyes were large and pure like the water lily. She sprinkled about the sap from two lotus flowers which she held in her splendid hands, and gracefully fanned herself. Her glossy, black, thick, smooth hair hung down in a braid.(36)
5. Then she saw, coming down from the firmament, a garland charmingly interwoven with fresh Mandâra flowers. It spread the delicious smell of Kampaka Asoka Nâga Punnâga Priyaṅgu Sirîsha Mudgara Mallikâ Gâti Yûthika Aṅkolla Korantakapatra Damanaka Navamâlikâ Bakula Tilaka Vâsantika Nuphar, Nymphaea, Pâtala. Kunda Atimukta and Mango; and perfumed the ten divisions of the universe with its incomparably delightful fragrance. It was white through wreaths of fragrant flowers of all seasons, and brilliant through splendid, beautiful embellishments of many colours. Towards it came humming swarms of different kinds of bees and filled with their sweet noise the whole neighbourhood.(37)
6. And the moon: white as cow-milk, foam, spray of water, or a silver cup, glorious, delighting heart and eyes, full, dispelling the compact darkness of the thickest wilderness, whose crescent shines at the end of the two halves of the month, opening the blossoms of the groups of Nymphaeas, adorning the night, resembling the surface of a well-polished mirror. She was of a white hue, like a flamingo, the stars’ head-ornament, the quiver of Cupid’s arrows, raising the waters of the ocean, burning as it were disconsolate people when absent from their sweethearts, the large, glorious, wandering headmark of the celestial sphere— beloved in heart and soul by Rohinî Such was the glorious, beautiful, resplendent full moon which the queen saw.(38)
7. Then she saw the large sun, the dispeller of the mass of darkness, him of radiant form, red like the Asoka, the open Kimsuka, the bill of a parrot, or the Guñgârdha the adorner of the lotus groups, the marker of the starry host, the lamp of the firmament, throttling as it were the mass of cold, the illustrious leader of the troop of planets, the destroyer of night, who only at his rising and setting may be well viewed, but (at all other times) is difficult to be regarded, who disperses evil-doers that stroll about at night, who stops the influence of cold, who always circles round Mount Meru, whose thousand rays obscure the lustre of other lights (39)
8. Then she saw an extremely beautiful and very large flag, a sight for all people, of a form attractive to the beholders. It was fastened to a golden staff with a tuft of many soft and waving peacock’s feathers of blue, red, yellow, and white colours, and seemed as if it would pierce the brilliant, celestial sphere, with the brilliant lion on its top, who was white like crystal, pearlmother, Aṅka-stone, Kunda-flowers, spray of water, or a silver cup.(40)
9. Then she saw a full vase of costly metal splendent with fine gold, filled with pure water, excellent, of brilliant beauty, and shining with a bouquet of water lilies. It united many excellencies and all-auspicious marks, and stood on a lotus-(shaped foot), shining with excellent jewels It delighted the eyes, glittered and illumined all about; it was the abode of happy Fortune, free from all faults, fine, splendid, exquisitely beautiful, entwined with a wreath of fragrant flowers of all seasons.(41)
10. Then she saw a lake, called Lotus Lake, adorned with water lilies. Its yellow water was perfumed by lotuses opening in the rays of the morning sun; it abounded with swarms of aquatic animals, and fed fishes. It was large, and seemed to burn through the wide-spreading, glorious beauty of all kinds of lotuses Its shape and beauty were pleasing. The lotuses in it were licked by whole swarms of gay bees and mad drones. Pairs of swans, cranes, Kakravâkas, ducks, Indian cranes, and many other lusty birds resorted to its waters, and on the leaves of its lotuses sparkled water-drops like pearls It was a sight, pleasing to the heart and the eye.(42)
11. Then she whose face was splendid like the moon in autumn, saw the milk-ocean, equalling in beauty the breast of Lakshmî, which is white like the mass of moon-beams. Its waters increased in all four directions, and raged with ever-changing and moving, excessively high waves. It presented a splendid and pleasant spectacle as it rushed to and from the shore with its wind-raised, changeable, and moving billows, its tossing waves, and its rolling, splendid, transparent breakers. From it issued camphor-white foam under the lashing (tails) of great porpoises, fishes, whales, and other monsters of the deep Its agitated waters were in great uproar, occasioned by the vortex Gaṅgâvarta, which the vehemence and force of the great rivers produced; they rose, rushed onwards and backwards, and eddied.(43)
12. Then she saw a celestial abode excelling among the best of its kind, like the lotus (among flowers). It shone like the morning sun’s disk, and was of a dazzling beauty. Its thousand and eight excellent columns (inlaid with) the best gold and heaps of jewels diffused a brilliant light like a heavenly lamp, and the pearls fastened to its curtains glittered. It was hung with brilliant divine garlands, and decorated with pictures of wolves, bulls, horses, men, dolphins, birds, snakes, Kinnaras, deer, Sarabhas, Yaks, Samsaktas elephants, shrubs, and plants. There the Gandharvas performed their concerts, and the din of the drums of the gods, imitating the sound of big and large rain-clouds, penetrated the whole inhabited world. It was highly delightful through curling, scented fumes of black aloe, the finest Kundurukka and Turushka, burning frankincense and other perfumes. It (shed) continuous light, was white, of excellent lustre, delighting the best of gods, and affording joy and pleasure.(44)
13. Then she saw an enormous heap of jewels containing Pulaka, Vagra, Indranîla, Sasyaka, Karketana, Lohitâksha, Marakata, Prabâla, Saugandhika, Sphatika, Hamsagarbha, Añgana, and Kandrakânta. Its base was on the level of the earth, and it illumined with its jewels even the sphere of the sky. It was high and resembled Mount Meru.(45)
14. And a fire. She saw a fire in vehement motion, fed with much-shining and honey-coloured ghee, smokeless, crackling, and extremely beautiful with its burning flames. The mass of its flames, which rose one above the other, seemed to interpenetrate each other, and the blaze of its flames appeared to bake the firmament in some places.(46)
