216 BENGALI LANGUAGE @& LITERATURE. [ Chap, pps “| Chedi with numerous feudatory chiefs who waited at the gate for days till he could obtain entrance into the Great Hall. Here the King Dirghajangha of Ayodhya (Oudh), with a picturesque array of noble steeds, ee ee ০৯ ২৯ পপ elephants, and camels, patiently awaited the command of the Great Emperor; and other mighty princes, too many in number to be mentioned, approached Yudhisthir with presents of immense gold, silver, pearls, diamonds, corals, invaluable stuff made of silk, fur and cotton,—big tuskers, musk-bearing deer andcurious animals as horses with horns,—nay the very gods of Heaven were present here to do honour to Yudhisthira. In this grand assembly Bibhisan, the King of Lanka, declined to bow down before Yudhisthira, saying that he never bowed to any body on the earth except to Krisna —the divine Incarnation. Insulted at every gate, in which the king of Rakshasas witnessed the grande- our of the Rajsuya Sacrifice, he still persisted in his determination not to do homage to the para- mount Emperor. Krishna vainly tried to convince him of the greatness of Yudhisthira and when Bibhisan was still inexorable in his attitude of pride, the Lord took to a device to humiliate him. Entering the great Hall, Krishna found Yudhisthira seated on his throne situated on a flight of 100 steps, and himself taking his stand above fifty steps mani- fested himself in his Vigwa-Rupa. Yudhisthira seated behind him could not see this manifestation of his divinity, but all others present saw it. Suddenly tiaras of gold crowns—a thousand of them—shone forth fromthe Divine Head. The astonished multitude saw thousands of arms holding resplendent weapons, thousands of eyes, that looked like solar orbs—
