Skandapurana 1.4.18

English (machine translation) 1.4.18

Language: English

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Nārada said: / Seeing him, all the Dānavas, enraged and surrounded by their respective forces, / hemmed him in on all sides, like bees around honey.

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Upon a fearsome elephant resembling a mountain, streaming with rut, untameable, / bearing white variegated banners, its temple-cheeks split [with mada],

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which was adorned with golden color like a mountain enveloped by forest fire, / the mighty Daitya Nimi mounted and advanced against Hari in battle.

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The terrifying Dānavas who guarded that elephant / numbered twenty-seven crores, radiant with diadems and armor.

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[One] rushed against Hari having mounted a horse resembling a mountain; / Jambhaka, having mounted a camel with a neck five yojanas long;

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Śumbha advanced mounted upon a ram twelve yojanas long; / and other Dānava lords, prepared and with various weapons in hand,

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enraged, advanced in battle against Viṣṇu of effortless deeds: / the Daitya Nimi with an iron bar, and Mathana with a club;

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Śumbha with a sharp trident, and Grasana likewise with a dart; / the enraged Krathana with a discus, and Jambha with a spear in the great battle.

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The rest struck Nārāyaṇa with arrows that pierce the vitals. / Those weapons discharged entered the Supreme Person,

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like the manifold instructions of a guru entering a good pupil. / Then enraged Hari, taking up his bow and copious arrows,

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crushed the Daitya army, just as discourse on wealth [crushes] righteousness. / He pierced Nimi with twenty arrows brilliant as fire;

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enraged Mādhava pierced Mathana with ten, Śumbha with five, / and Mahiṣa on his chest with a hundred;

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and Jambha with twelve sharp [arrows], and each one of the rest with eight. / Seeing his lightness of hand, the Dānavas, faint with rage,

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made a still greater effort, covering Hari with arrows. / Then the Dānava Nimi severed the bowstring with a broad-headed arrow,

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and Mahiṣāsura passionately sliced the bow from his hand. / Jambha afflicted Garuḍa with thirty thousand arrows,

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and Śambha pierced his two arms with ten thousand arrows. / Then, with an astonished mind, Mādhava seized his mace.

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He hurled it with speed at Mathana in the great combat. / Before it reached him, Nimi struck it with thousands of arrows resembling pestles,

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and knocked it down, roaring like a storm cloud at the end of time. / Then in the sky arose the cries of beings, saying "Alas! Alas!"

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There was clearly no strength here [equal to] where that mace was shattered. / Hari, seeing it fallen like a plea made in the wrong place,

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seized a terrible club adorned with divine gems. / He hurled it with exceeding speed, aiming at the Dānava Nimi.

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As it came flying through the sky, three Daityas intercepted it: / the Daitya Dambha with a mace, Grasana with a sharp-edged spear,

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and the Daitya Mahiṣa with a lance, roaring with a tremendous cry. / Seeing it repelled, as a virtuous man is by the wicked,

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he seized a spear exceedingly fierce, with the great resonance of a hundred bells. / Aiming it at Jambha, he hurled it in that terrifying battle.

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Seeing it arriving, Jambha quickly leapt down from another's chariot / and caught it playfully, like an impassioned man seizing a lovely woman;

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and laughing, the mighty one struck Garuḍa on the head with that very [spear]. / Then, having mounted his chariot again, he seized his bow and strung it.

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Garuḍa became unconscious in battle, afflicted by the spear. / Then Viṣṇu, smiling, said to him: "Well done! Well done!", O Bhārata,

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and dispelled the delusion of Vinatā's son with the touch of his hand. / Comforting him with words and seeing that the spear had proved futile,

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just as all the designs of a man with a bad wife come to nothing, / he then fixed another bowstring of firm and mighty strength.

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Having produced a clapping sound with his palm, he discharged the Raudra weapon. / Then, by the radiance of the weapon, the whole sky could not be seen at all;

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the earth, the cardinal points, and the intermediate points became filled with a net of arrows. / Seeing the greatness of that weapon, the Asura commander Grasana

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swiftly discharged the Brāhma weapon, which repels all weapons. / By that, the Raudra weapon, terrifying to the world, was brought to rest.

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When that weapon was neutralized, Viṣṇu, the slayer of Dānavas, / invoked the Kāladaṇḍa weapon, terrifying to all the worlds.

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While that weapon was being aimed, a harsh wind blew, / the earth goddess trembled, and the oceans split apart.

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Seeing that fierce weapon, the Dānavas, arrogant in battle, / invoked divine weapons of various forms in the combat.

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Grasana invoked the Nārāyaṇa weapon, Nimi discharged the excellent Tvāṣṭra weapon, / and Jambha discharged the Aiṣīka weapon to ward off the Daṇḍa weapon of the battle.

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Even as the Nārāyaṇa and other weapons were being aimed for its neutralization, / the Kāladaṇḍa slew a crore of Daitya lords in a mere instant.

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Thereafter, seeing that weapon, the Kāladaṇḍa, calmed and its terror ceased by the counteraction of the Daityas' weapons, / Hari, whose form became like the fire of dissolution in anger,

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seized the discus, brilliant as ten thousand suns, with fierce spokes, like a second self. / Grasping it firmly in combat, the four-armed one hurled it blazing at the general.

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Then, seeing that furious discus advancing, the foremost Daityas, with all their soul and their own valor, / were unable to ward it off, just like fate arrived from [deeds] done before.

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That unfathomable discus, like a newly forged weapon, fell upon Grasana's neck. / Its dreadful nave turned crimson with the stream of his blood, it returned once more to the hand of Murāri.

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Struck by the discus in the battle, the Dānava fell to the ground and died; / and the remaining Daityas experienced immense sorrow, while some ground their arms in rage.

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Then, after the Daitya Grasana, the commander of the army, was slain, / the Dānavas fought unrestrainedly with Hari,

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with flat-faced iron spears, maces, lances, knifes, and iron bludgeons, / and with sharp-faced iron arrows, discuses, and spears.

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Having found his mark, Janārdana split into a hundred pieces each one / of that mass of missiles loosed by them, using arrows resembling tongues of fire.

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Enraged, Janārdana struck down tens of millions of them; / then, coming together all at once, they fell upon Keśava.

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Some Asuras seized Garuḍa by the feet in their hundreds; / they clung to his two wings, and others clung to his face.

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Unto Keśava's bow as well, and upon his two arms and head, / the great Daityas clung, roaring again and again.

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Seeing that great marvel, the Siddhas, Cāraṇas, and travelers / let out cries of "Alas, alas!" and praised Hari in the sky.

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Then Hari, shaking them off violently, cast them down upon the earth, / just as an enlightened person casts off the faults born of worldly existence.

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Then, unsheathing his excellent sword Nandaka / and taking up his spotless shield, Viṣṇu ran at them on foot.

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Then, in merely a moment, wandering along the way, / Keśava with his many [blows] cut down ten lotus-units of the foremost Daityas.

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Then the foremost Asuras headed by Nimi, mighty archers, / roaring loudly, ran toward Keśava as he traversed on foot.

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And Garuḍa swiftly approached, and Hari mounted him, / and he spoke to Garuḍa in that tumultuous battle:

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"If you are not weary, O Tārkṣya, then advance toward Mathana; / but if you are weary, withdraw for a moment from the battle."

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Tārkṣya said: / "I have no weariness, O Lord of the World, even a bit, when I remember / that Tāraka appointed my sons to serve as mounts."

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Speaking thus, he went toward the Daitya Mathana in battle. / The Daitya, seeing him approaching, bearing the conch, discus, and mace,

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struck him on the chest with a sharp-edged javelin. / Without giving any thought to that blow in that great fight, Viṣṇu

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struck him with five arrows capable of cleaving even a sovereign mountain; / and again, pierced between his breasts by ten [shafts] drawn to the ear,

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senseless for a moment, Mathana composed himself once more, / and taking an iron club, struck Janārdana on the head.

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Viṣṇu was slightly staggered by that blow; / then, his eyes rolling in rage, Mādhava seized his mace.

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With it he struck Mathana forcefully on the heart; / he fell thus upon the ground with shattered limbs and died.

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When that Mathana was crushed and had fallen to the ground, / all those Daityas were seized with despair on the battlefield.

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Then, as those excessively proud Dānavas grew despondent, / Mahiṣa, the lord of the Dānavas, flew into a rage, his eyes red.

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Relying on the strength of his own arms, the terrible Mahiṣa marched out against Hari, / tormenting Hari with a sharp-edged trident;

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and the heroic [demon] struck Garuḍa firmly in the chest with a spear. / Then, opening his mouth, which resembled a huge dark cavern,

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the Daitya wished to swallow Acyuta along with Garuḍa in the battle. / Then Acyuta of great might, knowing what the Dānava intended to do,

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filled his mouth with divine missiles. / Struck by those arrows, Mahiṣa, who resembled a mountain,

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with half his body overturned, fell down and died. / Seeing Mahiṣa fallen, Hari brought him back to life and then

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said to Mahiṣa: "O Dānava, you do not deserve death at my hands; / formerly it was declared by the Lotus-born [Brahmā] himself that you are to be killed by a woman.

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Arise, go, released by me, swiftly away from this great battle." / Addressed thus by Hari, the Asura departed from that place.

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When that Daitya Mahiṣa had turned away, the Dānava Śumbha, / with the swell of his lips bitten and his face furrowed with frowns,

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rubbing hand against hand and taking up a terrible bow, / strung it and loosed hundreds of exceedingly dreadful arrows.

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That Daitya, who fought with wondrous skill and struck with a firm grip, then [attacked] Viṣṇu / with innumerable, unhindered arrows discharged, resembling blazing tongues of fire.

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And Viṣṇu, deeply tormented by the arrows of the lord of the Daityas, seized an iron club like Death; / with it in the fight he crushed his face and Śumbha's collarbone, which was like a mountain.

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Then, with three arrows drawn up to the ear, having the color of fire and sun, Viṣṇu [pierced] Śumbha's arm, / with sixty-two his charioteer's head, and with ten the Daitya's banner.

Pierced by them and afflicted, the lord of the Daityas became smeared with flowing blood. / Then, as he wavered slightly in his steadfastness, he whose hand holds the conch, lotus, and bow of horn said:

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"You are easily slain by a woman; leave the battle, O inauspicious Śumbha, in a very few days! / You do not deserve [death] at my hands in vain, O fool." Thereupon that Dānava Śumbha retreated.

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Then Jambha, hearing that from Viṣṇu's mouth, roared loudly, uttering a lion's roar, / and playfully spoke these words in the battle, making the world tremble with his loud burst of laughter:

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"O you whose dwelling is in the waters, what use have you for these Daityas who lack prowess? / Face me in this battle if you have any manly vigor anywhere!

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When formerly those Daityas led by Hiraṇyākṣa were slain by you, / Jambha was truly not there; behold me standing here today!"

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"Look at these two arms of mine, Hari, like palm trees! / Or [look at my] chest, hard as a thunderbolt! Strike me, and take your pleasure!"

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Addressed thus by him, Keśava, licking the corners of his mouth in fury, / hurled a terrible iron mace, one that could split even rocks.

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Then, close behind it, Viṣṇu hurled a solid club / made of dark iron, like a second mountain.

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Seeing those two weapons, Jambha set down his bow upon his chariot, / leaped forward, seized the iron mace, and struck Garuḍa with it.

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Then seizing the second weapon, the club, roaring in battle, / he struck Govinda on the head with all his might.

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From those exceedingly powerful blows, both Garuḍa and Keśava, / enveloped in stupor and senseless, lay as though dead.

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Seeing that great wonder, the foremost Daityas roared; / the universe could not endure them, shaken by the arrogance of their joy.

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With lion-roars, clappings of palms, and the twangs of bowstrings born of arrows, / they cheered Jambha and waved their garments.

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They blew their conches and fiercely harassed the deities.

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Then Hari, regaining consciousness in the great battle, along with the son of Vinatā, grappling with Jambha, / turned his back upon the invincible combat and fled swiftly.

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Thus ends the twentieth chapter, named "Description of the Battle of Viṣṇu with the Daityas," in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit