KING [_looking down_],--How wonderful is the appearance of the earth as we rapidly descend! Stupendous prospect! yonder lofty hills Do suddenly uprear their towering heads Amid the plain, while from beneath their crests The ground receding sinks; the trees, whose stems Seemed lately hid within their leafy tresses, Rise into elevation, and display Their branching shoulders; yonder streams, whose waters, Like silver threads, but now were scarcely seen, Grow into mighty rivers; lo! the earth Seems upward hurled by some gigantic power.
MÁTALI.--Well described! [_Looking with awe._] Grand, indeed, and lovely is the spectacle presented by the earth.
KING.--Tell me, Mátali, what is that range of mountains which, like a bank of clouds illumined by the setting sun, pours down a stream of gold? On one side its base dips into the eastern ocean, and on the other side into the western.
MÁTALI.--Great Prince, it is called "Golden-peak,"[43] and is the abode of the attendants of the god of Wealth. In this spot the highest forms of penance are wrought out. There Kasyapa, the great progenitor Of demons and of gods, himself the offspring Of the divine Maríchi, Brahmá's son, With Aditi, his wife, in calm seclusion, Does holy penance for the good of mortals.
KING.--Then I must not neglect so good an opportunity of obtaining his blessing. I should much like to visit this venerable personage and offer him my homage.
MÁTALI.--By all means! An excellent idea. [_Guides the car to the earth._]
KING [_in a tone of wonder_].--How's this? Our chariot wheels move noiselessly. Around No clouds of dust arise; no shock betokened Our contact with the earth; we seem to glide Above the ground, so lightly do we touch it.
MÁTALI.--Such is the difference between the car of Indra and that of your Majesty.
KING.--In which direction, Mátali, is Kasyapa's sacred retreat?
MÁTALI [_pointing_].--Where stands yon anchorite, towards the orb Of the meridian sun, immovable As a tree's stem, his body half-concealed By a huge ant-hill. Round about his breast No sacred cord is twined, but in its stead A hideous serpent's skin. In place of necklace, The tendrils of a withered creeper chafe His wasted neck. His matted hair depends In thick entanglement about his shoulders, And birds construct their nests within its folds.