17. The moon-beams of her body, shed their ambrosial dews over the landscape, which bewitched the hard-heart of the young devotee, as he beheld the fairy form before him.
18. She also with her body shining as the fair full-moon, and shaking as the wave of the sea, became enamoured of Sukra as she looked at his face.
19. Sukra then checked the impulse of his mind, which the god of love had raised after her; but losing all his power over himself, he became absorbed in the thought of his beloved object.
CHAPTER VI.
ELYSIUM OF BHÁRGAVA.
Argument. Sukra’s imaginary journey to heaven, and his reception by Indra.
Vasishtha said:—Henceforth Sukra continued to think of the nymph with his closed eye-lids, and indulge himself in his reverie of an imaginary kingdom.
2. He thought that the nymph was passing in the air, to the paradise of Indra—the god with thousand eyes; and that he followed her closely, to the happy regions of the celestial gods.
3. He thought, he saw before him the gods, decorated with their chaplets of beautiful mandara blossoms on their heads, and with garlands of flowers pendant on their persons resplendent as liquid gold.
4. He seemed to see the heavenly damsels with their eyes as blue-lotuses, regaling the eyes of their spectators; and others with their eyes as beautiful as those of antelopes, sporting with their sweet smiles all about (the garden of paradise).
5. He saw also the Marutas or gods of winds, bearing the fragrance of flowers, and breathing their sweet scent on one another; and resembling the omnipresent Viswarúpa by their ubiquitous journey.