द्वितीय राजतरङ्गिणी (जोनराज - कल्हणोत्तर मध्यकालीन कश्मीर का प्रामाणिक इतिहास)

236 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
was here that on Fridays, worshippers issued from the
four doors on the four sides, so that it seemed as
if the mlechchhas who had been buried were coming
out! It was here that the four high minarets looked
graceful like the supports of virtue, as if virtue had left
his own place and descended to this spot to witness if
the people observed the rules of religion. It was here
that the sun shone like an umbrella of gold, as if he
came hither to listen to the vanities of the world. Such
was the great building which towered to the sky and
was decorated with wonderful sculptures, and which
appeared like a fortress for the preservation of the faith
of the mlechchha king. In a moment the fire, all-des-
troying like the fire at the end of a cycle, left nothing
of that building but its walls. It was here that in times
of edhā and other festivities, the mlechchha people
used to gather in crowds and observe the rites of reli-
gion with devotion. There were houses built by Vah-
rāmakhāna called the Pañchāvāsas, and the fire flamed
wildly over them all and burnt them with a great noise,
even like the Khāṇḍava forest. The flaming barks of
the bhūrja tree fell on the waters of the Vitastā, and the
boats in the river could not be saved from catching fire.
What thousands of houses were burnt on the same day
in the herdsmen's quarter at Surapattana on account
of the destructive wind! One hundred fowlers perished
that day in the waves of the Mahāpadma lake, agitated
by the boisterous wind. The planet Mars predominated