the interpreter of the Dark Chamber; a chorus-damsel who sings in sharp antiphon to the common chorus of secular kings and king-worshippers:
Surangama
Every one knows that the King is hard and pitiless—no one has ever been able to move him.
Sudarshana
Why do you, then, call on him day and night?
To which Surangama answers, "May he ever remain hard and relentless." Her temper is like that of the singer who delights in the fierceness of the Maruts and sings the hymn of their coming:
Come hither, Maruts, on your chariots charged with lightning, resounding with beautiful songs, stored with spears, and winged with horses! Fly to us like birds bringing food, you mighty ones!
They come gloriously on their red or their tawny horses which hasten their chariots. He who holds the axe is brilliant like gold—with the tyre of the chariot they have struck the earth.
On your bodies there are daggers for beauty; may they stir up our minds as they stir up the forests.
The motive worked out in the dramatic parable of the Dark Chamber is one that bears significantly, as we shall see when we turn to
