And Indra told her as she asked, beginning from the beginning, everything there was to know. And when he ended, Kalánidhi remained a while, buried in meditation. And suddenly she laughed, and said: O Maghawan, thy nymphs are surely very stupid, resembling beautiful bodies that are destitute of souls. Is it really possible that with such weapons in their hands, they could not so much as make the shadow of an impression on this Brahman? Come now, we will go together, for I shall need thee to assist me, and overthrow this mutterer, together with the mountain of his merit, by the favour of the Elephant-headed deity; for I think, that there will be very little difficulty in diverting his attention from his penance, after all: so little, that as I will show thee by experiment, it is not I that will upset him, but, aided by me, he will simply overturn himself. And when I have succeeded, I will ask thee for absolutely nothing in return; but thou shall cause me to be worshipped by all the nymphs in heaven in a body, performing a pradakshina around me in due form.
And Indra said within himself: Well said the Moony-crested, that jealousy alone would induce her to comply. And he exclaimed aloud, in an ecstasy of delight: O daughter of Aparapaksha, do but succeed in corrupting this ascetic, and I vow to thee, I will myself perform a pradakshina about thee, at the head of all my nymphs!
[[1]] i.e. Maheshwara.
[[2]] That is, so as to touch the ground with all eight parts of the body at once.
[[3]] Legendary dwarfs. Agastya was a very little man.
[[4]] i.e. an animal, a brute; a synonym for the absence of all culture and intelligence.
[[5]] The Lord of Animals, i.e. Shiwa, is the ascetic par excellence.
[[6]] i.e. an ocean of thirst. This thirst, trishá, is the technical name for what Schopenhauer calls the will to live (vitai semper hiantes).
[[7]] Watsa is a term of endearment, equivalent to our "darling"; the whole word means "a heifer." [Pronounce each a like the u in hut.]
[[8]] i.e. Krishna; who solved Plato's old difficulty of the One and the Many, by "keeping company" with each of his love-sick milkmaids at once.