Skandapurana 1.3.27: adhyāyaḥ 29

Lomaśa said:
Then both armies, of those gods and of the enemies of the immortals,
filled with many wonders and endowed with fourfold divisions,
shone against each other, roaring like clouds at the arrival of the rains.

Meanwhile, leaping and challenging one another there,
all those mighty gods and asuras fought.

A tumultuous battle took place, crowded with gods and daityas;
in an instant, everything became marked with headless trunks and severed heads.

They fell upon the ground there by hundreds and by thousands;
the arms of some were severed by dreadful sword-blows.

Mucukunda was indeed strong, of immeasurable prowess in the three worlds.

Tāraka was then struck on the chest with a sword with all his strength
by that wise Mucukunda; enduring that blow, he laughed and said:

"What is this, you fool, that you have done today by force?
Out of shame, I do not wish to fight with a mere human.

Hearing Tāraka's words, Mucukunda replied:
"You are slain by me, O lord of daityas; you cannot become anything else!

Having seen the blow of my sword, you will not stand before me.
I will slay you! Behold my valor, O king of daityas; stand firm!"

Having spoken thus, the mighty hero Mucukunda,
even as he struck with his sword, was struck by a spear;
and the son of Māndhātṛ fell there upon the battlefield.

Having fallen, that slayer of enemy heroes rose up in that very instant.

Preparing himself, exceedingly powerful, to slay Tāraka, the lord of daityas,
the son of Māndhātṛ, sole conqueror of the world, raised the Brahmā weapon and seized his bow.

As he, swift and mighty, his eyes dilated with rage, was eager to fight Tāraka,
Nārada, the son of Brahmā, spoke thus to that hero among men, Mucukunda:

"Tāraka cannot be slain by a human; therefore, do not release this great weapon."

Hearing those words of the celestial seer Nārada,
Mucukunda said: "Who will be his slayer?"

Then Nārada, endowed with great splendor and divine sight, said:
"Kumāra will slay him—Kumāra, the son of Śiva.

Therefore, you should stand united while fighting.
Be restrained and stand by, O wise Mucukunda."

Hearing the charming and auspicious words uttered by that illustrious sage,
all the gods, together with that best of men, became calm with effort.

Then, resolute, they sounded kettledrums and conches,
accompanied by various musical instruments played by gods and asuras.

The asuras roared there, making ready against the gods.
And the hero Vīrabhadra, born of Śiva's wrath, was filled with fury.

Approaching the mighty Tāraka with numerous gaṇas, / placing Mucukunda and likewise the gods in the rear,

then all those pramathas, putting Kumāra at their head, / the gaṇas, Vīrabhadra and the others, fought there in the clash.

With tridents, spears, nooses, swords, axes, and paṭṭiśas, / they struck one another in the battle, in the crushing encounter of gods and asuras.

Tāraka, struck hard by Vīrabhadra with a trident, / suddenly fell there, overcome for a moment by swoon.

Rising after an hour, Tāraka, the bull among daityas, / having regained consciousness and filled with strength, struck Vīrabhadra.

And that Vīrabhadra of great splendour, the powerful attendant of Śiva, / [hurled] a spear and with his dread trident [struck] Tāraka.

Thus fighting, the two struck each other; / an exceedingly tumultuous duel took place between the two mighty ones.

The gods then became mere onlookers right there in the battle; / the kettle-drums, mṛdaṅgas, paṭahas, ānakas, and gomukhas of the two,

as well as the sound of ḍamarus, filled the three worlds; / fighting amid that great noise, the two of great power

shone, exceedingly enraged, torn by blows, / furiously pitted against each other like Mercury and Mars.

Then the killing of him was proclaimed to Vīrabhadra by Nārada; / and that word did not please Vīrabhadra at all then,

what was indeed spoken by Nārada regarding the slaying of Tāraka; / just as Rudra is, so too was that Vīrabhadra of great might.

Thus fighting on, the two struck each other, / emulating one another, roaring like two lions.

Thus as the two fought upon the earth, by that great soul, the best among the wise, / by Nārada, Vīrabhadra was indeed restrained then with many words.

Hearing that speech which issued from the mouth of Nārada, / Vīrabhadra, seized with wrath, replied to Nārada:

“I will kill Tāraka; behold my valour today! / The heroes who bring their master to the assembly of battle, / those are sinners and exceedingly unrighteous, wavering when they have entered the fray.

They are to be known as cowards, never to be praised. / You do not know, O divine seer, the proper conduct of warriors!

Putting death behind them, free from anxiety on the battlefield, / their limbs torn by all kinds of weapons—they are praiseworthy, of this there is no doubt.”

Having spoken thus, the mighty Vīrabhadra spoke to the gods: / “Let the gods, with Indra at their head, hear my words!

Today I shall make the earth rid of Tāraka, there is no doubt of this.”

Then, seizing his trident, he fought with Tāraka, / along with many mounted on bulls, bearing excellent tridents;

the gaṇas, wearing matted locks and marked with bulls, striking fiercely, / placing Vīrabhadra at their head, possessing the valour of Vīrabhadra,

all bearing tridents, all adorned with serpents and mountains, / all bearing the crescent moon upon their crests, adorned with matted locks,

blue-throated, ten-armed, five-faced, three-eyed, / surrounded by umbrellas and chowries, all having exceedingly fierce arms,

placing Vīrabhadra at their head, all possessing the valour of Hara, / fought; then the daityas, whose livelihood was the asura Tāraka, [countered them].

Again and again, defeated by those gaṇas, the asuras turned their backs; / then a dreadful battle took place between them and the foremost daityas.

Unable to brook [resistance], the gaṇas, skilled in supreme weapons, then became victorious; / defeated by the gaṇas, those afflicted asuras reported their defeat to that Tāraka.

Bending his bow, desiring to fight, Tāraka entered the army; / just as a large fish enters the ocean, so indeed did that high-souled, foremost daitya.

Accompanied by the gaṇas, that mighty Vīrabhadra then fought; / and that foremost daitya of great power, entering a towering rage, crushed / all the gods with Indra at their head, as well as the gaṇas, the yakṣas, piśācas, and guhyakas.

Then there ensued a battle crowded with gods and dānavas, / a great clash bringing together gods, dānavas, and yakṣas.

Then roaring bulls killed horses together with their riders, / and with chariot-warriors they destroyed chariots, and elephants together with their mahouts.

By those mounted on bulls along with chariots, all those asuras were torn apart and crushed.

Brought to ruin, many then fell to the earth, struck down; / some entered Rasātala, and many likewise were fleeing;

and some sought refuge with the attendants and servants of Rudra. / Seeing his army destroyed thus, the protector of the asuras, / Tāraka, seized with wrath, went to slay the hosts of the gods.

Multiplying his arms to ten thousand, Tāraka, king of the daityas, / mounted a lion and quickly caused slaughter among them in the battle.

Some bulls were torn apart by his armored lion; / likewise many gaṇas were slaughtered by Tāraka alone.

Such was done then by that high-souled Tāraka; / great Tāraka could not be overcome by all the gods.

The mighty-armed one became then the causer of ruin to the three worlds; / the daityas following Tāraka were invincible and exceedingly strong,

well-mounted, armored, formidable, striking blows; / all the gaṇas were seized by them, and the bulls were killed by lions.

As those gaṇas were being slain thus in the battle arena, / Viṣṇu, laughing, spoke to Kumāra, the beloved of Śiva.

Viṣṇu said: / “There is no other slayer of this wicked one except you, O son of the Kṛttikās; / therefore you must heed my word, O mighty-armed one!

You were born for the sake of slaying Tāraka, O son of Śiva; / therefore the destruction of Tāraka must be accomplished by you alone.”

Hearing that, the great and blessed son of Pārvatī was angered, / and laughing heartily, he addressed Viṣṇu as was fitting:

“I was watching closely the wondrous battle of the great-souled ones. / I am ignorant, O Viṣṇu, in discerning what should and should not be done.

I do not know at all who are ours and who are the others; / why are these fighting, intent on killing one another?”

Hearing Kumāra's words, Nārada spoke these words:

Nārada said: / “You are Kumāra, O mighty-armed one, born of a portion of Śaṃkara; / you are the protector, the lord of the worlds, and the highest refuge of the gods.

Formerly, O hero, Tāraka performed terrible austerity, / by which alone the gods were conquered, by which heaven was likewise conquered.

And through that fierce austerity he obtained invincibility; / by him also Indra was conquered, and likewise the guardians of the worlds.

And all the three worlds were conquered by this very wicked soul; / therefore you must kill Tāraka, that sinful person.

Auspiciousness must be brought to all by you today, the lord!” / Hearing Nārada’s words, the great Kumāra, laughing heartily, / descended from the aerial chariot and became a supreme foot-soldier.

Then, running on foot, this son of Śiva in the form of Kumāra, / took in hand his spear of great prowess, like a great blazing meteor.

Seeing him approaching, exceedingly fierce, of unmanifest form, foremost among the strong, / the Daitya said to the best of gods: “This Kumāra is a slayer of foes!

I alone, the hero, will fight with him, and I alone [will fight] all the heroes; / and I shall forthwith slay all the gaṇas, the great lords, and the guardians of the worlds!”

Having spoken thus, the exceedingly mighty one constantly advanced toward Kumāra to fight; / he grasped a most wondrous spear, and that Tāraka spoke these words:

Tāraka said: / “Why has Kumāra been placed before me today by you? / You are shameless gods whose king is Puraṃdara!

What deed was done by him formerly—all that is known: / while sleeping, they were tortured in the womb, and those within the belly were struck down.

By that son of Kaśyapa alone the multiform Asura was slain; / and the heroic Namuci was slain, and likewise Vṛtra was slain.

That Deveṃdra, the slayer of Bala, [has now sent] Kumāra to be slain! / This Kumāra has been slain by me today, O gods, of this there is no doubt!

Formerly, brahmins were slain in large numbers by you at Dakṣa's sacrifice; / today, O great-minded Vīrabhadra, hero skilled in battle, / I shall show you the fruit of that deed in battle!”

Having spoken thus, that great-souled sovereign of the Daityas, the one foremost among heroes, / that Tāraka, best of those skilled in warfare, grasped a most wondrous spear.

Overpowered by supreme wrath, that son of Diti, surrounded by lords of the Asuras, / that powerful Tāraka, victorious in battle, then set his mind on slaying in battle.

Thus ends the twenty-ninth chapter, entitled “Description of the Battle between the Gods and Tārakāsura”, in the Kedārakhaṇḍa of the Śivaśāstra, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.