(From behind the scenes) “Ho! Ho! O ascetics, for the protection of the creatures (living beings) of the hermitage, all of you should go near (those creatures). King Dushyanta, wandering about on a hunt, has come close to the hermitage. For the dust raised (scattered) by the hooves of the horses, glowing red like the radiance of the evening (setting) sun, is falling upon the trees of the hermitage like swarms of locusts, upon whose branches (boughs) the bark-garments of the sages, wet from washing, have been spread out (to dry). And this elephant— frightened at the sight of the chariot, having one tusk broken by a violent (harsh) blow against the branch (limb) of a tree before it, with its feet entangled as though shackled by clusters of creepers dragged along by its steps, and scattering the herds of deer in all directions— is entering the hermitage like a living embodiment of an obstacle to our austerities.”