All things exist everywhere, both within and without the body, yet each person perceives only what their awareness allows. Just as one sees only what is inside a vessel by looking into it, so too, whatever is apprehended is found within the vast space of consciousness. It was then that the radiant goddess, Knowledge herself, spoke to King Viduratha, her words imbued with the nectar of awakening and the fresh sprout of discernment. “O King,” she said, “all that has been described here is for the sake of divine play. May good fortune be yours, for now we must depart, having witnessed the visions that were to be seen.” Addressed thus by Sarasvati, whose words were gentle and sweet, the wise King Viduratha replied, “O goddess, even seeing you brings me no fruit when I am in need. Yet how could your presence, which bestows such great rewards, ever be fruitless? O goddess, as I leave this body behind and move to another realm, I return to my own, just as one passes from one dream into another. Mother, grant me refuge here; do not disregard your devoted supplicant, O giver of boons, for the great never turn away those who seek shelter. Wherever I go, let my faithful minister and this princess, though still a child, come with me. Show us your compassion.” He continued, “Come, rule the kingdom with proper discernment and beauty, as befitting your noble nature in your previous birth. Act without hesitation. For we have never seen anyone who rejects the wishes of those who seek help.” Sarasvati then spoke, “O king, in this great battle, you must now meet your end; you are destined to regain your former kingdom, and this is clear to me. The princess, the minister, and you must all return to your former city; having become corpses, you will regain your bodies there. Both of us arrived as we did, and you came in the form of the wind; so too must the princess and the minister reach that place. The horse follows one path, the camel and donkey another; the elephant, cheeks wet from intoxication, follows yet another—each must go their destined way.” As the conversation between the goddess and the king continued, their words sweet and profound, a man burst in hastily and, standing above them, spoke urgently: “O lord, a great hostile force has arrived, raining down arrows, wheels, swords, maces, and iron clubs, surging like a single, overwhelming ocean. Like mountain stones swept up by the wind at the end of an age, showers of maces, spears, and clubs are being hurled, falling like rain. In the city, which stands like a mountain, fire has spread in all directions; with crackling bursts, it is toppling the finest buildings. Smoke rises in the sky like great mountains formed from the collision of cosmic clouds, striving to soar upward like mighty Garudas. People, agitated, cry out amid the harsh shouts of men, and outside, a great tumult fills the quarters. There is the forceful drawing of bows raining arrows, and the loud trumpeting of huge, intoxicated elephants. Within the city, as flames leap and crackle, the cries of citizens whose wives have perished in the fire resound in great distress. The fire’s fragments, with their harsh, crackling roar, blaze forth, their flames flickering with a sound like ‘dhvaga-dhvaga.’” Through the window, the two queens, the minister, and King Viduratha beheld the city in the deep of night, rising up with a tremendous roar. It was filled with the force of a single, vast ocean, agitated by the winds of dissolution, surging with waves of dense, ominous clouds, and driven by a supreme power. The city was being consumed by great masses of flame, as bright as mountain bodies dissolving in the fire at the end of an age, filling the sky. Terrifying and tumultuous cries mingled with the thunder of massive clouds that seemed close enough to grasp, along with the fleshly mutterings of incantations. The sky was veiled by clouds of smoke, swirling like the eddies of a lotus pond, and ceaselessly lit by masses of flames that resembled golden clouds. Meteor fragments and shooting stars flickered across the sky, while the multitude of burning bodies illuminated the scene with blazing fire. The city, its armies destroyed, was filled with heaps of embers and clouds of ash, resounding with dreadful wails and the fierce roar of worlds being burned. The sky was filled with the ceaseless flight of arrows, like a forest consumed by fire, and the ground was strewn with heaps of blazing flames rolling down rows of houses. Fierce warriors were struck down by the crashing of elephants in battle, and great wealth was scattered along the paths where fleeing thieves fell. The cries of men and women grew intense as showers of embers fell, and the crackling sound of burning wood resounded as the flames consumed everything. The sky was filled with countless wheels of chariots and hundreds of blazing suns, while the earth was covered with peaks of burning coals. The crackling of burning logs rang out like the sound of a veena, and the lamentations of all the animals being burned, including elephants, rose in sorrow. The food of kings, queens, and elders, once resting on mats, was destroyed, and the great flames eagerly began to consume everything in their path. The houses echoed with the harsh crackling and roaring of the fire, and the flames, freed from fuel, longed to devour the endless food of countless creatures. Amidst this destruction, King Viduratha heard the voices of his soldiers, who, while being burned, cried out as they ran and watched the devastation. “Alas!” they cried, “the maddened wind above is casting down burning embers from the roofs and trees of houses, blazing with the clamor of clashing swords. Alas! The edges of swords, cold as snow, are stuck in the bodies of elephants, just as the sayings of wisdom are fixed in the minds of the great.” Thus, the city was engulfed in chaos and ruin, as the drama of fate and the play of consciousness unfolded before the king and his companions.