Skandapurana 7.10

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Sanatkumāra said: / When that army was being struck down thus by Soma of matchless splendour, / the great sorcerer, the asura Hiraṇyākṣa, son of Diti, took heart then and, filled with rage, / addressed the valiant son of Garuḍa, his charioteer in battle: / "O king of birds, have you no shame here in the ocean of battle, / that today you carry me away from the conflict in the chariot to another place? / What will all the asuras and the mighty daityas say? / 'Our king, the tormentor of enemies, has been defeated in battle by the foes; / seeking to save his life, that evil-minded one has abandoned us, his children, / and fled somewhere from the battle.' Fie upon me, the worker of evil! / Having become the son of Kaśyapa, the esteemed brother of the daitya / Hiraṇyakaśipu, a daitya endowed with the power of great yoga, / at the forefront of all the daityas and the dānavas likewise, / king, master, and hero—how could he be conquered by enemies? / Or perhaps you belong to the side of the gods, being indeed the son of Garuḍa; / you serve that very faction and do not protect me!"

"It is not that I lack the power today to sever your head with its earrings / from your body with this sharp sword, O lowest of the avian race!"

[Footnotes and page number omitted] / 'You were a friend to poor me of old, as a childhood companion; / therefore, having protected you, I say: go, you are released, though at fault.' // Hearing that speech of his, the charioteer, the lord of birds, / spoke with soft words to the great asura Hiraṇyākṣa:

"Do not be angry, O best of dānavas! O daitya, I am not your enemy. / You were then driven away swiftly from the battlefield solely for your protection. / Charioteers and those versed in the treatises say, O lord of dānavas: / Chariot-warrior and charioteer are like husband and wife, devoted to one another. / A charioteer must be protected by the warrior from weapon-blows like a beloved wife; / and by him the chariot must be protected like a victory-bringing husband. / You were pierced by the enemy and trapped in the fight; / thinking, 'He may become incapacitated,' you were quickly taken away by me. / Having recovered and regained strength, armored again for combat, / you will conquer the foes in battle; it was only thus that you were carried away. / For those who retreat in due time and return armed in due time— / victory in battle is not hard to attain for those great-souled ones, O daitya! (12–17)

And I am not your enemy, in truth; I am always doing what is good for you. / Have no doubt, O king of daityas; I swear by truth on all accounts. / Nor is it unknown to you today, the oath that was made of old; / likewise, I am a drinker of nectar; no death exists for me. / I am Garuḍa's son, but leaving the gods, I have resorted to the asuras / out of affection for you alone, O daitya; do not harbor suspicion toward me! / This army is afflicted by the Moon and Fire; / protect it swiftly, O mighty-armed one; you should not grieve. (18–21)

[Footnotes and page number omitted] / 'Resorting now to sorcery, or by the bow, or by strength, / slay the enemies, O great king; let not the sons of Diti be thwarted!' // Sanatkumāra said: / Then, embracing that king of birds, the great asura / rushed forward impetuously on his chariot that rumbled like a cloud. // As he was charging, Candramas along with Agni / cut down his standard in the battle with arrows resembling venomous serpents.

Then, having pierced him in the forehead, those two gods, the Moon and Fire, / raised a loud roar, O Vyāsa, like clouds at the end of the world-age. / Seeing their swift dexterity, the glorious Hiraṇyākṣa / neutralized that cold with a supreme fiery missile. / Having burned that shower of frost, he then again by sorcery, / after causing delusion, swiftly became Rāhu and charged forth. (25–27)

Being swallowed then by that Rāhu, the lord of birds, / abandoning the battle, went elsewhere; then the Daitya roared. // But when that cold-store [moon] vanished, all those Dānavas, / regaining breath, fought once more against the hosts of gods. / Roaring like thunderous clouds, resounding like the ocean, // those great chariot-warriors of the Daityas and Dānavas, the foremost riders, recovering, / […] eager for battle, were like tusked great elephants dwelling in the forest. // Thus ends the ninety-first chapter on the battle in the Skandapurāṇa.

[Footnotes omitted]

[Page number omitted] / Sanatkumāra said: / Seeing the lord of asterisms flee in fear of the Dānavas, / the divine fire, the bearer of oblations, stood as a foot-soldier, ready to fight.

With his arrows he turned the Dānava's chariot, along with the charioteer and horses, / along with the banner and pennant, into ashes. / Then, enraged, he cut the string of his divine bow with a smooth-jointed arrow, / and said, 'Halt! Halt!' / Then Andhaka, Rāhu, Prahlāda, and Maya, / as well as other foremost Dānavas, surrounded the Fire. / He leaped upon them then and burned their bows, chariots, / and manifold banners, roaring out.

The best among the Vasus, assuming a fierce form, / burned their manifold armors and heads, making all directions resound. / While they cried out 'Alas, alas!' there, the Lord Bearer of Oblations, / burning with his tongue, O Vyāsa, shone like a lamp stationed in a cave. / Burning the faces of some of the Dānavas, / like blooming lotuses, that enemy of darkness possessed great radiance.

The Lord Fire burned the gold-adorned trunks / of some foremost elephants, like a forest fire burning serpents. / The Lord Fire burned arrows and bows, / as well as sword-trappings, elephants, and horses completely everywhere. / Being slain, disarmed, and intensely tormented, / their armor stripped off, those Daitya leaders wandered about hither and thither.

As those enemies of the gods, inflamed by the fire, were burning, / King Hiraṇyākṣa himself became a rain-cloud.

[Critical notes] / That Daitya leader, having become a cloud, then quickly extinguished / that fire with downpours, like a cloud of the cosmic dissolution. / Seeing that the Bearer of Oblations was then extinguished and distressed, / Vipracitti covered his forehead with sharp arrows. / Then, as he roared again, Maya, the foremost among the Dānavas, / that great Asura, drove terrible arrows into his mouth.

Pierced in his mouth by him then, O Vyāsa, terrible smoke, / resembling collyrium, rose up from his body like the wind. / By that smoke, the sky, heaven, and earth were completely / filled, O Vyāsa; nothing whatsoever could be discerned.

By that sound, by signals, and by proclaiming names, / as well as by touch of hands, they then sent one another to the abode of Yama. / Neither god nor Daitya nor Dānava could be recognized there; / being unable to distinguish, they made this arrangement there: / The Daityas uttered 'Āṭi', and the gods uttered 'Baka'; / those who said 'Baka', the Daityas slew them then; / and the gods [slew] whoever said 'Āṭi'—thus it went on. / Such was the battle that lasted for a thousand years, / causing great fear indeed among the Daityas with the gods in the darkness. / Then, in that darkness, an exceedingly terrifying, extremely dreadful battle took place, / destructive to the world, shedding torrents of blood between the gods and the Asuras who wished for the welfare of the world.

Thus ends the ninety-second chapter in the War [section] of the Skandapurāṇa.

[Critical notes]

Sanatkumāra said: / Then, at that time, that smoke-flag arising from the fire, / struck by the wind, completely vanished.

Then the entire sky became completely clear; / all the gods and Daityas beheld one another.

Then conchs, kettle-drums, drums, kettle-drum rolls, / resonant drums, and small drums, as well as kettle-drums beaten on all sides,

were sounded in both armies by hundreds and by thousands. / Then Śakra, king of the gods, Yama, and Vaiśravaṇa,

both Pūṣan and Bhaga, Aryaman, and Mitra, / Jayanta, the Maruts, and the Rudras and Ādityas completely,

violently, endowed with immense speed, crushed the Dānava army. / Grasping a powerful bow that shone like gold,

Yama sent the Daitya leaders to the abode of Yama with his staff. / Having pierced the mighty Hiraṇyākṣa with five arrows,

and all the horses one by one, he laughed and roared. / Then all those foremost Daityas and Dānavas, exerting themselves,

discharged arrows resembling venomous snakes, having hideous points. / Performing swift actions, he split them in three, one by one, in battle.

And again, as if laughing, he tormented [them] with dreadful arrows. / Then the charioteer of Andhaka and the chariot along with the horses,

the exceedingly valiant Yama brought to his own city by means of his attendant. / Then Andhaka, holding a mace in his hand, roaring like a cloud at the end of an era,

rushed swiftly toward Yama, and said, 'Halt! Halt!' / The king of the gods, with his thunderbolt, [struck] his gold-adorned mace...

[Critical notes]

shattered [it] into a hundred pieces, O Vyāsa; it fell lying upon the ground. / Having rendered him disarmed and unarmoured, those best of gods / struck [him] together in battle with a shower of weapons. / Yama struck him on the head with his staff, and Śakra with his thunderbolt; / and Varuṇa likewise with his noose, and the Giver of Wealth with his lightning bolt. / And other gods too [struck him] with other infallible, supreme weapons. / Free from agitation, they rushed forward, crying: 'You are slain!' / Yet at that time there was no pain whatsoever for that Daitya. / Leaping up from there and standing on the back of Puṇḍa, / that Daitya felled Yama from Puṇḍa to the earth with a blow of his fist. / Then, seizing Indra’s elephant by its tail, the swift one, / having whirled [it] around, hurled it afar, saying: 'You are ruined!' / Then again, seizing the chariot of the Lord of Wealth, which moved at will, / the Daitya, wild with rage, shattered it into many pieces. / Then slaying elephants with elephants, and foot-soldiers with foot-soldiers, / chariot with chariot in battle, and horses with horse-riders, / though he was struck again in battle upon the elephant of mighty Indra, / having leapt up then, he cast down Śakra from the elephant's shoulder. / Having seen that deed of his, the lord of Dānavas, in battle, / all the gods fled in all directions, seeking their lives. / Lord Indra went to the east together with the Ādityas and the world-protectors; / likewise to the south the Rudras, the Vasus, and the two Aśvins; / the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas to the west, and the Piśācas along with the Pannagas; / and others fled to the north like deer.

[Variant readings: 8 'he likewise' - kha; 9 'he... leaping up then' - gha; 10 'mounting Puṇḍa' - gha; 11 'having taken' - gha; 12 'slaying' - kha; 13 'again the elephant' - kha; 14 'and being slain' - gha; 15 'having leapt down' - kha; 16 'together with the Ādityas' - kha; 17 'they fled (?)'] / 515 / When they were broken, the Daitya lords, with diverse weapons, / rushed after them roaring, making fear visible to them. / Then having gone for a moment, they were restrained by Hiraṇyākṣa; / turned back, they all stood still, brought under the sway of forbearance. / Then Hiraṇyākṣa, skilled in speech, as if smiling, / spoke this word to those wrathful lords of Daityas and Dānavas: / 'What need have you today, O Daityas and Dānavas, of these weaklings, / bound, blocked, and dead in consciousness, the wicked-minded? / Slain are they, there is no doubt of this, whose kingdom has been seized; / they have no life today; do not be in haste, you simpletons!

'Even the weak, when desperate, seeking life, / are difficult to conquer, there is no doubt, on account of being not to be killed and by their power (?) […] / […] now […] / […] thus spoke Uśanas in assembly (?) […] / That which they call the kingdom—these are the vital breaths of the great-souled; / he who would seize their kingdom takes their lives. / Today of them […] by the gods. / Let us fill the places of the gods, O lords of the Dānavas!' / Sanatkumāra said: / Then they, with Hiraṇyākṣa, entered Amarāvatī; / they took the jewels, O Vyāsa, and proclaimed their victory. / Those Asuras made a guard there, and through trustworthy informants, / they consoled the citizens as well as the subjects. / […] likewise with an offering of hospitality, and with excellent gifts, / and with blessings they bowed to Hiraṇyākṣa, the best of Asuras.

[Variant readings: 18 'under the sway of wrath' - kha; 19 '...here' - kha; 20 'with the appearance of servants' - kha; 21 'taken (?)'; 22 'not' - kha; 23 'they told (?)'] / 516 / Having consoled them and having mounted the excellent throne, / having settled the affairs of all, the Daitya lord went to the abode of Varuṇa. / With various lion-roars, musical instruments, prancings, slappings of arms, and shouts, / all those great Asuras went, surrounding on every side the lion among Dānava kings. / Thus ends the ninety-third chapter, 'The Departure to the Abode of Varuṇa', in the Skandapurāṇa.

Sanatkumāra said: / Seeing him swooping down with speed like Garuḍa in battle, / the sons of Varuṇa fled together with their father. / And having reached that abode of Varuṇa, all those Daityas / stood with broad shoulders and sent toward that city / the powerful messenger Vātāpin, dispatched by the king. / That great Asura, having gone to and entered that delightful city, / well worshipped by the citizens, O Vyāsa, exceedingly haughty, spoke this to them: / 'The king of all the world, the delighter of Daityas and Dānavas, / the glorious, valorous Hiraṇyākṣa, son of Kaśyapa, / having defeated all the gods in battle, commands you perpetually: / "Listen all of you to me, and execute my command: / Bring jewels and abandon the deities. / If anyone belonging to the party of the gods lives here in the city, / I grant him safety; let him go fearlessly to the gods."' / Approaching that Daitya, the seers led by Nārada / then spoke this soothing word, O Vyāsa, to that Asura:

[Variant readings: 24 'having fully breathed' - kha; 25 'the great Asura' - kha...]

[Variant readings: 1 'do likewise' - kha; 2 'they dwell moreover' - kha; 3 'I grant unto him' - kha; 4 '...fearlessly' - kha; after this one leaf is missing in the kha manuscript; 5 before this, as in the kha manuscript, so in the gha manuscript a certain portion is missing] / 517 / 'King, Bhoja, Virāṭ, Samrāṭ, Lord of the Earth, Kṣatriya, Ruler of Men— / what wise person does not honour him who is praised by these words?

You are indeed King and Bhoja, Virāṭ, Samrāṭ, likewise / Lord of the Earth, Kṣatriya, Ruler of Men, and the All-enduring!

The gods together with Indra, endowed with very great valor, have been utterly conquered by you; / who in the world is equal to you, except Rudra, the one Īśvara alone?'

"You are the protector of all the worlds, and likewise the destroyer and the creator.
Who, what wicked soul, could obstruct your command, O great king? 12

And we all desire a boon, O lord of daityas, O Dānava.
For you grant boons to beings; be a grantor of boons to us." 13

Sanatkumāra said:
Having heard their words, he said, "I will grant a boon."
Then those [sages], skilled in speech, spoke to the daitya king: 14
The seers said:
"What was spoken by you regarding hell, disease, and death—
may that not be so, O daitya; let this boon be granted to us." 15

The daitya said:
"O foremost of brahmins rich in austerity, my vow was made long ago:
'I must increase the happiness of the worlds if I am the king of the world.' 16

If I do not do so, O best of munis,
I would be one of false vows, untrue and wicked. 17

Therefore, ask of me another boon that is most pleasing to you.
I shall fulfill it all accordingly; I bow my head and make this request to you." 18

Sanatkumāra said:
Having heard his words, all those seers,
O Vyāsa, spoke again to that powerful Hiraṇyākṣa: 19

The ṛṣis said:
'For the sake of the functioning of the world's order, O foremost of daityas, / all this was made by Brahmā long ago, and dharma was also set in motion.

And considering this world, dharma was set in motion; / let it not be rendered non-existent, O daitya: thus be a grantor of a boon to us.

That vow of yours would prevail, which is the removal of suffering for the worlds, / and therefore Brahmā's imperishable creation would not perish.

As long as you, O daitya, are the king and lord of the world, / in this manner freedom from debt toward Brahmā would be accomplished by you today.'

Sanatkumāra said:
Having heard their speech and considering the ṛṣis, the daitya king said:
'Those who are treacherous, siding with Indra, and breakers of my command—

death and torments in the hells shall belong only to them.' / This the king said then, and they too said to the ruler of men:

'So be it,' and saying [this] to them, he ordered release from torment. / Having released all the hell-dwellers, he gave the protection of the post

to the king of the ancestors, the sinless and mighty Vipracitti. / Then, proclaiming victory and having honored those twice-born, / the mighty Hiraṇyākṣa went to the dwelling of the Lord of Wealth.

Making that city of the Lord of Wealth resound, the exceedingly powerful dānavas, guarded by Andhaka, / surrounding Hiraṇyākṣa, then rushed forward like clouds toward a mountain.

Thus ends the ninety-fourth chapter, named 'The Departure to the World of Yama', in the conquest of the quarters by Hiraṇyākṣa in the Skandapurāṇa.

Sanatkumāra said:
Then, having reached Laṅkā, the beautiful city of the lord of wealth,
they stood nearby, haughty, clad in armor and bearing weapons. 1

Seeing the Dānavas thus positioned, arrogant with might,
all the inhabitants of Laṅkā and likewise the guardians of the treasures, 2

the treasures such as Śaṅkha and Padma, and the seers rich in austerity,
took offering-water and jewels and presented them to the Dānava. 3

And they said: "O lord of daityas, we are subservient to you, no doubt,
and we are your servants; command us duly, O lord of Dānavas." 4

Hiraṇyākṣa said:
"Have no fear, O yakṣas! You are mine, without doubt.
Indeed, this excellent king of yours is the son of Hiraṇyakaśipu, 5

Prahlāda, the tormentor of all the hosts of gods."
Then, having installed that bull among daityas there as lord of wealth, 6

he filled again the stations of the other hosts of gods,
having installed the lords of Dānavas as office-holders in all the posts. 7
And he consecrated Andhaka as Indra in Amarāvatī,
while the daitya personally ruled the entire earth. 8

And taking up once again his bow with an arrow, resplendent like the sun,
the lord of daityas said to the Earth, "Show yourself to me!" 9

Terrified of that daitya, trembling, with joined palms,
saying "Victory!", she stood before him like another Lakṣmī of Viṣṇu. 10

As a tiger [seizes] a doe, as the king of birds [seizes] a female serpent,
as a lion a female tiger, and as a king of śarabhas a lioness, 11

[Critical apparatus]

as a petty crow [seizes] a female goose, as the cormorant a peahen,
even so the son of Diti, with an angry face, seized her.
Agitated, he spoke to that goddess overcome with fear: 12
"O auspicious Earth, I have been appointed your lord by Brahmā.
Do not desire any other husband; for then I will protect you." 13
Sanatkumāra said:
Then, having gone to Rasātala near his own city,
he bound her with serpent-nooses, as if she were a wicked woman. 14
Then the immensely strong and wicked lord of daityas,
valiant, shut up the afflicted [Earth] with a mountain and a conch, as if in a cavern. 15
Then he appointed fourteen thousand lords of daityas named Kiṅkaras
as guards continually engaged in guarding her. 16
Having done that in this manner, the lord of daityas shone with satisfaction,
just as a farmer having seen a well-yielded field. 17
"I have accomplished my purpose," so thought that sovereign,
just as a virtuous and self-controlled man after uniting his eldest son with a wife. 18
And no one else found a weak point in him, O you of noble vows,
just as [none finds one] in an unaccompanied brahmin living with deceit. 19
"Sacrifice, all you Dānavas, and worship the brahmins;
and repeatedly bow to God, the trident-bearer! 20
Practice only righteousness!"—thus he ordered then.
Under him, no daitya or Dānava was unrighteous. 21

[Critical apparatus]

No wicked conduct existed in the kingdom while he ruled the realm. / He himself was the wind, the moon, and the sun,
endowed with the power of tapas among the worlds, O Vyāsa. / Plants sprouted by themselves while that king ruled;
without plowing, they thrived, providing for all the people. / Taking them, the Daitya king himself brought them to maturity;
he himself threshed them and brought them back to the households. / He himself was the punisher, and he indeed was the punishment.
Through his mastery he continually guarded against thieves everywhere. / In his [kingdom], no one fell ill, nor did anyone die,
nor was anyone attached to another's wife, nor was anyone ever a slanderer. / In his [realm] there were no violent people, nor were there ever the unrighteous.
Ponds, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls / arose everywhere in fine condition even without rain.
In his realm there were no rākṣasas, nor injurious piśācas; / there were no pestilences, nor were there any dualities.
Brahmins did not offer into the fire at that time, while that king [ruled]; / they did not study, nor did they sacrifice; there was then a single caste.
Those who were Bhṛgu brahmins, bringing joy to the Dānavas, / studied and sacrificed everywhere in that manner, O Vyāsa.
All was joyful and thriving, free from sickness and sorrow, / devoid of the classes and stages of life, a world where all people were equal.

27 durācāra - ms. kha. 28 iti - ms. kha. 29 hi - ms. kha. 30 rājyaṃ praśāsati (?) . 31 vṛṣṭi - ms. kha, kṛṣṭaṃ - ms. gha. 32 vai kṛṣiḥ - ms. gha, sādhikā ms. kha. 33 tāmsamādāya - ms. gha, samāsthāya (dhāya) (?). 34 svayaṃ - ms. gha. 35 daṇḍāccaiva - ms. kha. 36 yaṃ gān - ms. kha. 37 caurān - ms. kha. 38 vṛṣṭiṃ - ms. gha. 39 -adhyāya (?) - ms. kha. 80 puṣṭadhastaiśca te - ms. kha 41 sarva - ms. kha. 42. vivarjitāḥ - ms. kha. 43 karmmāśrama (dharmā...) - ms. kha, varṇāśraya - ms. gha. 44 karmaṇopasa (śa)maṃ - ms. gha.
522
Continually engaged in dance, song, and festivals, sleeping happily, engaged in loving enjoyment,
the world shone under the king, the Daitya sovereign Hiraṇyākṣa, the son of Diti.
Thus ends the ninety-fifth chapter in the Skandapurāṇa, entitled 'Description of the Reign of Hiraṇyākṣa'.

Vyāsa said:
While that king, the Daitya ruler, was thus the lord over the three worlds, auspiciously, / and the earth had been bound, and the subjects were happy,
what did the gods do, fallen from their stations, displaced, endowed with great power, / and afflicted with sorrow? Recount this to me in full.
Sanatkumāra said:
Hear what the condition of the gods became, / and what all of them, afflicted with sorrow, did in order.
Fire, the carrier of oblations, had been the increaser of the gods' share. / Having cast him out, the Daitya produced another fire.
In that ritual, O best of brahmins, the mantras followed along with him, / declaring the shares of the Daityas and Dānavas and securing good fortune.
Then the Sacrifice in person attended upon the great-souled Daityas. / And when the Sacrifice had gone over to the Daitya leaders, all the gods were as if dead;
they lost consciousness, their energy and prowess grew faint, / they were stripped of fortune, deprived of effort, having none to call to, filled with distress,
like serpents scorched by mantras, like mountains crushed by the thunderbolt, / like venomous snakes bitten by Garuḍa, drained of poison,

45 daityanāyake - ms. gha. 46 dānavendraḥ - ms. gha.
1 kimakurvanta - ms. kha. 2 etannaḥ - ms. kha. 3 yadakurvanta - ms. kha. 4 ivācalāḥ - ms. kha.
523

like trees bereft of water, or women bereft of kinsmen; / even so those gods, O Vyāsa, their kingdom stolen, their splendor taken away,
pondered in their hearts, withered away, and lamented. / Then the self-manifest god, the Grandfather, knowing the gods to be in such a state,
spoke this from his sun-bright aerial chariot:
'O gods, you have lost your senses! Why are you so exceedingly sorrowful? / Today I give you the power of tapas and yoga, O foremost of the gods!
You are the creators and destroyers of the world in every way. / It is not fitting for you to stand like eunuchs today.
Abandoning sorrow, O mighty ones, take up your own yoga and mine; / do not surrender yourselves to grief, O gods!
Darkness is not fitting from the sun, nor heat from the moon; / frost does not come from fire, nor nectar from a serpent;
virtue does not come from an evil person, nor does ugliness come from one of noble birth; / unrighteousness does not arise from rules, nor wicked intellect from the Vedas;
even so, this is not fitting for you, O noble-minded gods! / Those who remain grounded in splendor do not despond in calamities.
Having met with misfortune, you ought not to grieve. / Do not sink down in despair; the kingdom will be yours once again!
Endowed with the strength of great yoga, Hiraṇyākṣa, the son of Diti, / cannot be slain today with slight fiery splendor, O deities.
You who are imperishable must await the exhaustion of his tapas; / when his tapas is exhausted, Viṣṇu will slay the Daitya king in battle.'

5 viśākhābhi - ms. gha. 6 devatā - ms. kha. 7 muhyanti - ms. gha. 8 svayaṃ - ms. gha., ... stathā yo dharmaṃ - ms. kha. 9 nāgne stuthāraśca yathā - ms. kha. 10 nādharmā - ms. kha. 11 .. mimaṃ devā - ms. kha., devānāṃ ca - ms. gha. 12 ca - ms. kha. 13 .. ttejasi - ms. gha. 14 ye - ms. kha. 15 pratīkṣantāṃ (?). 16 yudhi - ms. gha. 17 rhaniṣyati - ms. kha.
524

Sanatkumāra said:
Addressed thus by Brahmā, the lords of the gods, having obtained yoga, / bowed to the creator of all beings and spoke this: / "Our places of great yoga have been seized by the sons of Diti. / Tell us where we are to stay; direct us to an imperishable abode." / Brahmā said:
"All your abodes have been seized, and this is known to me. / Listen to where you must dwell by means of your power of yoga: / enter with yoga into the bodies of all the creatures, / everywhere, O best of gods; from that you will obtain sustenance. / By their food and drink, and by various bodily rites, / the earth, even though held by the Nāga, will nourish you." / Sanatkumāra said:
Addressed in this way by the god, all the gods, along with Indra, / did just as Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, had said. / Staying there, the best of gods maintained themselves continually, / serving through the four ages, abiding by the design of the Creator of the world. / Then, through yoga, Hiraṇyākṣa saw the gods stationed within creatures; / possessed of yoga, he grew furious with them. / Wherever he saw a god abiding, / the best of the Dānavas approached and struck down that very one.