Note 28 — Chapter LXXIII

And in course of time king Śrídarśana, as he was sitting inside the palace with his two queens, heard a Bráhman lamenting outside. So he had the Bráhman brought inside, and asked him why he lamented. Then the Bráhman shewed great perturbation and said to him; “The fire that had points of burning flame (Díptaśikhu) has been now destroyed by a dark cloud of calamity, discharging a loud laugh (Aṭṭahása), together with its line of brightness and line of smoke (Jyotirlekhá and Dhúmalekhá).”28 The moment the Bráhman had said this, he disappeared. And while the king was saying in his astonishment, “What did he say, and where has he gone,” the two queens, weeping copiously, suddenly fell dead.