With slender-waisted women, adorned in charming attire and with lovely curled hair, their lips reddened by betel, all well-guarded by attentive attendants, the procession was a sight of beauty and splendor. They rode in vehicles both high and low, each bright and lavishly decorated with jewels and gold, accompanied by singers and those skilled in reciting praises. Around them stood vigilant armed guards, while men with eyes long and graceful as lotus petals—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas—joined the king in his journey. All the merchant guilds and groups from distant towns brought their wealth, jewels, and gold, accompanied by their wives and entire retinues. There were those who traded in weapons, those who sold betel, grass, or wood—each profession represented. Those who earned their living from the stage, sellers of meat, oil, and cloth, mingled with sellers of fruit and leaves, burden-carriers, and washermen, all present in their thousands. Cowherds, barbers, tailors, shepherds of sheep and goats, keepers of deer and tenders of swans, joined the throng. Sellers of grain, parched flour, jaggery, and salt made their way, too, alongside singers, dancers, reciters of auspicious hymns, actors, storytellers, and those wise in ancient lore. Poets and creators of verse, poison-curers, experts in Garuda lore, and skilled gem examiners were among them. Metalworkers, coppersmiths, bronze-makers, goldsmiths, silk-weavers, painters, potters, and fire-workers all took part. There were stick-makers, sword-makers, brewers of liquor, wrestlers, messengers, scribes, and many who performed diverse tasks. Weavers, image-makers, artisans, oil-pressers, sellers of fried grain, fowlers, and those who lived by hunting wild creatures were present. Elephant doctors, physicians for humans, tree doctors, cow doctors, and those skilled in cutting and cauterizing wounds—all these townspeople, and many more unmentioned, followed the king. The entire city, with all its inhabitants, journeyed with him, just as eager sons follow their father to another village. Thus, that illustrious king, surrounded by all the great and noble people, with elephants, horses, chariots, and infantry, proceeded slowly in majestic procession. Traveling in this way, followed for a long time by his vast retinue, the king eventually reached the southern shore of the ocean. There he beheld the beautiful ocean, appearing as if it danced, crowded with countless waves rising and falling in endless numbers. The ocean sparkled with various gems, teemed with many living creatures, and was abundant with waves and billows—truly a place of great wonders. It was the king of sacred fords, resounding with a mighty roar, boundless and fearsome as a mass of clouds, unfathomable, and the abode of makaras. Within the waters swam fish, turtles, conches, oysters, crocodiles, spikes, porpoises, crabs, and great venomous serpents. This salt ocean was the resting place of Hari, lord of rivers, destroyer of all sins, holy and bestower of all desires. It was profound with countless whirlpools, the refuge of Dānavas, the churning rod for nectar, divine, source of the gods, and lord of waters—distinguished among all beings, sustainer of life, supremely pure, and auspicious. It was the foremost of sacred fords, imperishable, lord of aquatic beings, its measure fixed like the waxing and waning of the moon. Impenetrable to all, it was the abode of immortality for the gods, the eternal cause of creation, preservation, and destruction. Seeing that lord of rivers and streams, the source of merit for all, the best of kings was filled with utmost wonder. He made his dwelling there, upon the ocean shore, in a holy and delightful land endowed with all the virtues of the earth. The place was adorned with groves of shāla and kadamba trees, puṃnāga, sarala pines, jackfruit, coconut palms, bakula, and nāgakesara trees. There grew palmyra, pipal, date palms, oranges, bījapūra citrons, shāla, amrātaka, lodhra, bakula, and many vāraka trees. Kapittha and karṇikāra trees, pāṭala, ashoka, campaka, pomegranate, tamāla, pārijāta, and arjuna trees flourished as well. The land was rich with prācīna amalaka, bilva, priyangu, vaṭa, khadira, iṅgudī, saptaparṇa, aśvattha, agastya, and jambuka trees. There stood madhuka and karṇikāra, vāraka and tinduka, palāśa, badara, nīpa, siddha-nimba, and auspicious añjana trees. Vāraka, kovidāra, bhallāta, amalaka, hintāla, aṅkola, karañja, and vibhītaka trees grew in abundance. Sasarja, madhuka, āśmarī, shālmalī, devadāru, shākhoṭaka, nimba, vaṭa, kumbhī, kauṣṭha, and harītaka trees filled the groves. The air was fragrant with guggulu, sandalwood, aguru, pāṭala, jambīra, karuṇa, tintiḍī, and red sandalwood. The land was lush with various kinds of trees and many other plants, including wish-fulfilling trees bearing fruit at all times and masses of flowers in every season. Divine birds of many kinds filled the groves, the air resounded with the songs of intoxicated cuckoos, and flocks of splendid peacocks, parrots, and mynas made the place vibrant with life and color.