38. The gurgling noise of the whirlpools, resembles the loud thunder claps of heaven; and the submarine fire is sometimes seen to burst out of the deep, like the latent flame of Agastya, that consumed the waters of the main.
39. The watery maze presents the picture of a vast wilderness, with its waves as the waving trees; the billows as its branch boughs, its surfs as blossoms, and the foams and froths as flowers.
40. The high heaving surges with the shoals of fishes skimming and skipping upon them; appear as fragments of the sky fallen below, and carried away by the gliding waters.
41. Thus the hostile forces were driven afar to the shores of the salt seas; extending far and wide and bounding the earth on every side; while the lofty mountains rising to the skies with their verdant tops, intercepted the sight on all sides.
CHAPTER CXIV.
Description of the Prospects all around.
Argument:—Description of the forest trees, the hills and seas, the forest and hill peoples, and clouds on high.
Vasishtha continued:—Then the royal army beheld whatever there was on sides of them; namely, the forests and hills, the seas and the clouds, and the foresters and hill people, and the trees of the forest.
2. They said: behold, O lord, that high hill, which lifts its lofty top to the sky, and invites the clouds to settle upon it; while its midmost part is the region of the winds, and the base is composed of hard and rugged stones.
3. See, O lord, how they abound with fruit trees of various kinds, and the groves whose fragrance is wafted around by the gentle winds.
4. The sea breaks down the peninsulas with its battering breakers, and disperses the stones of the rocks on its banks; it shatters the bordering forests with its wavy axes, and scatters their fruits and flowers all over the waters. (The gloss explains the peninsula to mean the maritime lands of Madras).