And
(then) reign _iti_[1], and disease, and lassitude, and anger and other
deformities, and natural calamities, and anguish, and fear of scarcity.
And as the yugas wane, virtue dwindles. And as virtue dwindles away,
creatures degenerate. And as creatures degenerate, their natures undergo
deterioration. And the religious acts performed at the waning of the
yugas, produce contrary effects. And even those that live for several
yugas, conform to these changes. O represser of foes, as regards thy
curiosity to know me, I say this,--Why should a wise person be eager to
know a superfluous matter? (Thus), O long-armed one, have I narrated in
full what thou hadst asked me regarding the characteristics of the
different yugas. Good happen to thee! Do thou return.'"
[1] Iti means these six things, unfavourable to crops--excessive
rain, drought, rats, locusts, birds, and a neighbouring hostile
king.
SECTION CXLIX
"Bhimasena said, 'Without beholding thy former shape, I will never go
away. If I have found favour with thee, do thou then show me thine own
shape.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "Being thus addressed by Bhima, the monkey with
a smile showed him that form of his in which he had bounded over the
main. And wishing to gratify his brother, Hanuman assumed a gigantic
body which (both) in length and breadth increased exceedingly. And that
monkey of immeasurable effulgence stood there, covering the plantain
grove furnished with trees, and elevating himself to the height reached
by the Vindhya.
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