Skandapurana 1.4.19

English (machine translation) 1.4.19

Language: English

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Nārada said: / Seeing him fleeing, with his banner and bow broken, / and the Daityas rejoicing, Indra did not know what to do.

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Then the lord of the gods quickly approached Viṣṇu / and spoke sweet words to him, filled with encouragement:

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"Why do you sport, O Lord, with these wicked-minded Dānavas? / How can an individual whose vulnerable spot is seized by vile men perform his duties?

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When disregarded by the capable, a base man believes in his own strength; / therefore, a wise man should never disregard a base man.

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Moreover, charioteers attained victory through the excellence of their vanguards. / Who was your companion previously, O Lord, in slaying Hiraṇyākṣa?

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The Daitya Hiraṇyakaśipu was mighty and arrogant with pride; / meeting you, he perished like straw. Who was your vanguard there?

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Previously, rival Daityas like Madhu and Kaiṭabha, / having approached you, were consumed like moths in a flame.

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In every age, O Hari, the destruction of the Daityas has come from you. / So too today, O Viṣṇu, you are the refuge of the terrified gods in this world!"

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Thus urged, Viṣṇu, mighty-armed, the slayer of foes and refuge of all beings, / expanded in strength, splendor, and prosperity.

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Then Keśava, as if smiling, spoke to the thousand-eyed [Indra]: / "It is so, exactly as you have spoken concerning me.

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I am able in an instant to burn all the Dānavas of the three worlds. / But Tāraka is difficult to conquer, except by an infant seven days old.

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And Mahiṣa and Śumbha are both to be slain by a woman. / Jambha was cursed by Durvāsas: 'You shall be slain by Śakra!' / Therefore, with divine valor, slay Jambha, swollen with pride!

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That Dānava cannot be slain by all living beings, except by you.

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Protected by me in battle, remove Jambha, the thorn of the world!" / Hearing that speech of Vaikuṇṭha, the thousand-eyed [Indra], slayer of the foes of the immortals,

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commanded the lords of the gods regarding the array of the army. / Then, requested by the gods, Viṣṇu arranged the army.

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What was the essence of all the world, and of valor and austerity— / that Hari made into the eleven Rudras at the vanguard.

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The great gods, their limbs entwined by serpents, mighty, blue-throated, / with the crescent moon and the three lines of ash, yellow-eyed, bearing tridents in their hands,

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with tall, tawny matted hair, wearing lion skins, / their limbs smeared with sacred ash, fearsome with circles of arms,

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the Rudras, Kapālīśa and the others, put the great Asuras to flight: / Kapālī, Piṅgala, Bhīma, Virūpākṣa, Vilohita,

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Ajaka, Śāsana, Śāstā, Śambhu, Candra, and Bhava— / these eleven Rudras were of endless strength and glorious power.

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They protected the gods, roaring like clouds. / Mounted on Airāvata, who was like the Himālaya, wearing a garland of golden lotuses,

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adorned with a host of swinging large golden bells, / four-tusked, an elephant in rut,

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shedding copious rut-fluid, able to change form at will, Śatakratu [Indra] stood / like the radiant sun upon a peak of the snowy mountain. / The wind god of boundless valor protected his left flank;

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Agni, filling the quarters of the sky with flames, guarded the other; / and Viṣṇu, the lord of the battle, protected the rear of Śatakratu.

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The Ādityas, Vasus, Viśvedevas, Maruts, and the two Aśvins, / the Gandharvas, Rākṣasas, Yakṣas, along with Kinnaras and great serpents,

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forming troops by the tens of millions, distinguished by banners, / proclaiming their own fame with hosts of bards marching before them,

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haughty in slaying Daityas, with multicolored weapons and banners, marched forth.

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Guarded by the host of immortals, that army of Śatakratu, resplendent with the sound of vehicles / and adorned with tens of millions of elevated white flag-cloths, brought joy to the sons of Diti.

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Seeing that army of the gods approaching, Gajāsura, / having the form of an elephant, immense, with the prowess of the ocean of destruction,

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a Daitya armed with a battle-axe, with his lips clenched over his tusks, / crushed gods with his feet and hurled others with his trunk.

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The lord of the Daityas, of terrible prowess, struck down others with his axe. / As he was thus striking, the gods, Gandharvas, and Kinnaras, enraged,

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banded together and all unleashed a multitude of diverse weapons and missiles: / battle-axes, discuses, javelins, and clubs.

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Spears, darts, sharp arrows, and intolerable clubs— / that leader of the troop, the Daitya, swallowed them all like mouthfuls [of food].

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With the tips of his tusks quivering in rage, resounding with the clapping of his hands, / that Dānava, dreadful to look upon, roamed about in the battle, striking down the gods.

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Wherever Gajāsura fell upon the host of gods, / in that very place arose a great cry of "Alas! Alas!"

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Then, seeing that army fleeing in all directions, / the Rudras, from whom rays of egoism arose, spoke to one another:

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"Ho, ho! Seize the lord of Daityas! Pierce him, O mighty ones! / Drag him with sharp tridents! Crush him in his vital parts!"

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Kapālin, hearing the words, wiped the trident, / which was exceedingly sharp at the tip, with his left hand, his eyes wide open with fury.

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The multitude of blossomed red and blue lotuses [resembled his eyes gazing in] all directions; / then, his brow curved with a frown, he advanced facing the Daitya lord in battle.

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Bracing his trident with a firm grip of his fist, the pure / Kapālin struck the elephant-Dānava on the frontal globe of his head.

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Then those ten Rudras too struck the lord of Daityas, / who possessed the bulk of a mountain, with tridents made of pure iron in the fight.

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Then blood flowed through all his channels; / smeared with the blood from the trident of Rudra, the elephant-Dānava shone

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like a clear lake in autumn with blossoming pure blue lotuses, / surrounded by swans resembling Rudra with bodies bright with ashes.

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With the leaf-like tips of his ears flapping, Gajāsura, enraged, / pierced the furious Kapālin and Bhava at the region of the navel with his tusks.

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Seeing that he was engaged with the two Rudras, the nine Rudras then swiftly / pierced the body of the enemy of the immortals with arrows and tridents.

Then, abandoning Kapālin and Bhava, that bull among asuras, / the Daitya, enraged, charged with speed at the nine Rudras; / he trampled them with blows of his feet, and also with his tusks and his trunk.

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Then, when he had attained exhaustion from the duel of tridents, / Kapālin seized the trunk of this enemy of the immortals.

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And with great speed he whirled Gajāsura around; / seeing the Daitya afflicted with fatigue, his life almost departing,

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deprived of zeal, his eagerness for battle gone in that fight— / then, tearing off his dreadful skin while he was still spinning,

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which was flowing with a stream of blood from all its limbs, he made it his garment. / Then the gods praised him in many ways with numerous hymns of praise,

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and they said to him: "Whoever would strike this one would die." Then he, / seeing the form of Kapālin clad in the garment of elephant hide,

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[the Dānavas] were terrified, fled, struck [at random], and fell down by the thousands. / When that mighty lord of Dānavas was thus destroyed,

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having mounted a rutting elephant that resounded with a hundred kettledrums, / Nimi rushed forward swiftly, throwing the armies of the gods into disorder.

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Whichever quarter Nimi's elephant approached, / in that direction the gods fled along with their mounts and wailed, trembling repeatedly with fear.

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At the scent of his elephant, the elephants of the gods fled. / When the armies of the gods had fled, Pākaśāsana

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stood firm together with the eight guardians of the quarters and Keśava. / As soon as his elephant reached Śakra's elephant,

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Śakra's elephant, terrified, uttered a dreadful cry, / and although held with effort, stood trembling like a cakora bird.

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While that elephant was fleeing, Pākaśāsana, mounted upon it, / fought facing backwards with the lord of Dānavas.

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Śatakratu struck Nimi on the chest with a trident, / and with a mace he struck his elephant violently on the cheek.

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Disregarding that blow, Nimi of fearless prowess / struck Airāvata on the hip with a club.

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Struck then by the club in battle, Śakra's elephant, / resembling a mountain, sank back onto the earth upon its hind legs.

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Rising quickly with agility, the great elephant of the immortals / then retreated from the battle, terrified by Nimi's elephant.

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Then blew a harsh wind, full of dust and many pebbles. / Facing [them], Nimi's elephant, unshakeable, shook the mountains; / flowing with blood, it shone like a mountain with a dense pool of red mineral ores.

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The lord of wealth too hurled a heavy mace with speed / at that elephant of the Dānava; that mace fell upon its head.

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Fainting from the fall of that mace, / the elephant, having pierced the earth with its tusks, fell with speed like a mountain.

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When that elephant fell, a great lion's roar arose / from the armies of the gods on all sides, augmented by the trumpeting of elephants,

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by the neighing of horses, and by the twanging of the bows of archers. / Seeing that elephant slain and Nimi turning away,

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and the lion's roar of the gods that resounded through the quarters, / Jambha blazed with anger like an inflamed fire.

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Then, his eyes red with rage, fixing an arrow on his bow, / he shouted loudly, "Halt!", and cheered his charioteer.

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Seeing him approaching with an arrow placed on the bow, / Śatakratu, undaunted in spirit, firmly took up his bow

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and a crescent-headed arrow whose tip was cleaned with oil, flying straight.

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With it the slayer of Bala and Vṛtra sliced through his bow along with the arrow. / Casting aside that severed bow, Jambha, the delight of the Dānavas,

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took another bow, swift and capable of bearing heavy strain, / and arrows resembling venomous serpents, cleaned with oil and flying straight.

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He pierced Śakra with ten winged arrows in the clavicle region, / with three in the chest, and with two in his two shoulders.

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Śakra too dispatched a volley of arrows at the lord of Dānavas; / but the lord of Dānavas, before they reached him, [sliced] the arrows shot by Śakra's arms,

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he cut them into a hundred pieces in the sky with arrows resembling tongues of fire. / And then, with a net of arrows, the lord of gods [assailed] the lord of Dānavas—

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covered [him] with effort, just as clouds cover the sky in the rainy season. / The Daitya, too, pierced [him] with a net of sharp arrows,

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just as the wind [scatters] a mass of clouds that is irresistible in the face of the quarters. / Then, when Śakra, furious with rage, could gain no advantage

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over the lord of the Dānavas, he discharged the most wondrous Gandharva missile. / Then, pervaded by its brilliance, the domain of the sky became filled

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with cities of the Gandharvas, possessing various ramparts and archways, / discharging a rain of weapons of wondrous form on all sides.

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Smitten by that rain of weapons, the great army of the Daityas / went to Jambha for refuge, crying, “Save us! Save us!”, O Bhārata.

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Then the mighty Jambha, roaring and laughing again and again, / remembering the conduct of the virtuous, granted fearlessness to the Daityas.

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Then he discharged a terrible missile named the Mauśala. / Thereupon, the entire universe was filled with ferocious clubs.

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By them, all the Gandharva cities were shattered, / and with a single fierce strike, chariot, horse, elephant, and god

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were crushed swiftly by the hundreds and the thousands. / Then Śakra, lord of the gods, discharged the Tvāṣṭra missile.

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As the missile was being aimed, flames of fire burst forth; / then magical devices made of mechanical contraptions appeared by the thousands.

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With those devices a battle took place in the intermediate space that eclipsed the stars; / by those devices the Mauśala [missile] was shattered, and the Asuras were struck down.

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Jambha discharged the mountain-missile that crushes hosts of mechanical devices. / Then a rain of boulders measuring a fathom began to fall.

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Those machines that had been fashioned by the Tvāṣṭra [missile], O Bhārata, / were ground into sesame seeds by that shower of falling stones.

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Then boulders fell with tremendous speed upon the heads of the gods, / splitting the earth and that fourfold army.

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Then Purandara, the thousand-eyed, employed the Vajra missile; / [by it] the great rain of stones was shattered on every side.

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When the mountain-missiles were pacified, Jambha, resembling a mountain, / whose prowess was crushing to others, discharged the Aiṣīka missile.

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By the Aiṣīka missile, the Vajra missile that splits mountains was destroyed; / and as that supreme and most terrible Aiṣīka missile expanded,

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the armies of the gods, along with their chariots and elephants, burst into flames. / As the battalions were burning all around with the brilliance of the missile,

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the slayer of Bala, the chastiser of Pāka, employed the Āgneya missile; / and by that missile, the Aiṣīka missile met its destruction.

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When that missile was countered, the fire-missile flared up; / the army of Jambha, along with his chariot and charioteer, burst into flame.

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His missile thwarted, that resourceful lord of the Daityas / then released the Vāruṇa missile, which extinguishes flames of fire.

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Then the sky was filled with clouds thick with flashing streaks of lightning, / and the earth was flooded with deep downpours.

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The world was inundated with torrents like the trunks of lordly elephants. / Seeing the fire-missile extinguished, Indra unleashed

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the matchless Vāyavya missile, by which the clouds were destroyed. / When the circle of clouds was dispersed by the power of the Vāyavya missile,

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the sky became clear, shining with the luster of a blue lotus petal. / Trembling on account of the violent wind, the Dānavas

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could not stand their ground there, even those who were mighty in battle. / Then Jambha became a mountain ten yojanas wide,

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in order to resist the wind, as the commander of the Dānavas' forces, / filled with diverse wonders and covered with diverse trees and creepers.

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When the wind was pacified by the lord of the Daityas in the form of a mountain, / Śatakratu swiftly hurled a great thunderbolt made of adamantine vajra.

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As that thunderbolt fell upon the Daitya in the form of a mountain, / its caves and mountain torrents were shattered on every side.

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Then that mountain-illusion of the lord of the Dānavas ceased. / His mountain-illusion vanished, the lord of the Dānavas, furious with intoxication,

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became a terrifying elephant with the form of a great mountain. / He trampled the ranks of the gods and struck the gods with his tusks.

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Dragging some by his trunk, the Dānava broke their backs. / Then, as he was destroying the divine armies, the slayer of Vṛtra

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released the Nārasiṃha missile, invincible in the three worlds. / Then thousands of lions sprang forth by the power of the mantra,

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with bared fangs, booming roars, and claws like saws. / His body torn open by them, he abandoned the elephant-illusion.

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Then he became a terrible venomous serpent, covered with hoods, / burning the great charioteers of the divine army with the venom of his breath.

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Then Śakra, striking in battle, employed the Gāruḍa weapon; / thereupon thousands of eagles came forth from it.

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Approaching Jambha who had assumed the form of a serpent, those eagles / tore that Daitya to pieces; that illusion of his vanished.

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And when his illusion was destroyed, then the great Asura Jambha / assumed an incomparable form that reached the sphere of the moon and the sun.

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With rolling eyes he sought to swallow the foremost gods; / then the divine army, with its great chariots and elephants,

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entered his dreadful mouth, whose palate was as vast as Pātāla. / As the armies were being swallowed by the mighty Dānava,

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Śakra fell into dejection, his vehicles and mounts exhausted; / not knowing what should be done, he spoke these words to Janārdana:

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“What in particular is to be done next by us? / Direct us in that; let us join battle against this Dānava who is eager to fight.”

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Then Hari of noble intellect said this to the wielder of the thunderbolt weapon: / “It is not fitting now to abandon the battle, terrifying [even] to cowardly foes.

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Do not succumb to delusion, do not succumb! Quickly recall a weapon, O lord!” / Hearing this, he restrained himself and released the Nārāyaṇa weapon.

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In the meantime, the Daitya opened his mouth wide and in an instant swallowed / three times a hundred thousand Kinnaras, Uragas, and Rākṣasas.

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Then the Nārāyaṇa weapon fell upon his chest; / with his heart split open by that great weapon, he poured forth blood.

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Then, by its own brilliance, that form of the Daitya was destroyed; / and then the Daitya vanished, uttering a loud, fierce laugh.

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Standing in the sky, that king of Daityas, imperceptible to the senses, / loosed a lightning-bolt of weapons that wrought the supreme destruction of the divine armies.

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Axes, discuses, thunderbolts, arrows, clubs, / spears, swords, throwing rods, and iron-headed balls—

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these the Dānava wrathfully rained down, deadly and inexhaustible. / By those dreadful weapons loosed by the Dānava against the divine forces,

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the earth became filled with arms and heads adorned with earrings, / with thighs resembling elephants' trunks, and with lordly elephants like mountains.

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Together with chariots whose shafts, yokes, wheels, and axles were broken, / the earth, a mire of flesh and blood, became impassable.

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With swirling eddies of flood-like pools of blood, with piles of rocks that were the bodies of elephants, / crowded with the dancing of headless trunks, a great river [flowed through] the gods' [army],

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causing supreme delight to jackals, vultures, and crows, / teeming with varieties of Piśācas who had drunk meat and blood,

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boisterous and dancing together with their untroubled wives. / A certain wife, infuriated with pearls from the temples of elephants,

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where a Piśāca had gathered horses' hooves in one place, / delighted in ear-ornaments, while other [females] looked on with anger.

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Skilled in the aims of large ear-ornaments, they pacified them in many ways. / Some said: “O gods! O Daityas! We pray:

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Thus should you fight until the end of the kalpa for the sake of our satisfaction!” / Some said: “This Daitya, this god is very fleshy;

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if he dies in battle, the reward promised to the Creator will be paid.” / As the heroes fought, some licked the corners of their mouths,

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saying: “By this water we know [them], just as a bad man [knows] a good man.” / On the banks of the rivers of blood, some with pious faith

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gratified the ancestors and the gods with blood and auspicious flesh. / Standing on a heap of flesh, some, seeing the flesh in another’s hand,

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cried out, “Give! Give!” like miserable paupers before a rich man. / Others, having sated themselves, on seeing others eating,

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twisted their lips angrily and glared with extreme jealousy. / Others, enraged, rebuked their own bellies and struck them,

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wishing to consume everything, like sated men [coveting] another’s wealth. / Others said: “Only today is the creation of the Ordainer praiseworthy;

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auspicious was the dawn, auspicious the lunar mansion—all that came before was in vain!” / While the flesh-eaters were engaged in such diverse talk on every side,

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Jambha, invisible in battle, pulverized the gods with his weapons. / Then Śakra, the Lord of Wealth, Varuṇa, Pavana, Anala,

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Yama, and also Nirṛti—mighty beings, all aiming at the Dānava— / released divine weapons into the sky.

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The weapons of the gods became futile against the Dānava, / just as even hundreds of services by those of extremely cruel heart [are futile] toward a noble person.

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Exhausted, the gods and [even] the Daityas could find no refuge; / their whole bodies pierced by the Daitya’s weapons, like cows afflicted by cold,

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they clung to one another, lamenting, “Alas, alas, what will happen?” / Seeing that plight of the gods, Hari said to Śakra:

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“Remember the Aghora mantra, O King of Gods, for it is the weapon having the power of the Pāśupata, / bestowed upon you by Rudra when he was pleased—irresistible, slayer of foremost heroes.”

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Thus awakened by Hari, Śakra bowed to the lord god whose banner bears a bull; / he took up the crescent-shaped arrow that destroys enemies, revered in divine warfare.

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Fitting it to his invincible bow, the wise one charged it with the Aghora mantra.

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Then, drawing it to the edge of his ear, he loosed that arrow of unblunted radiance for his swift destruction. / Thereupon the Asura, seeing the great weapon falling upon him, instantly abandoned his illusion and stood firm.

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With trembling mouth and steady body, confused with perturbation, / then, energized by that supreme weapon, the crescent arrow in that great battle,

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shot from the bow of Puraṃdara, imitating with its form the orb of the midday sun,

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struck down Jambha’s head adorned with earrings—thick with the flashing brilliance of a crest of diadems, perfumed with various fragrant flowers, / with hair resembling scattered smoke and fire.

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When Jambha was slain by Indra, the gods praised him greatly; / and the blessed Vāsudeva also said, “Well done! Well done!”

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Then, seeing Jambha slain, the chiefs of the Dānavas turned their backs; / with their resolves shattered, they all fled toward Tāraka.

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Seeing them terrified and hearing that the four had been killed, / he urged his charioteer: 'Drive quickly toward Indra in battle!'

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Saying 'So be it,' he drove forth as Tāraka mounted his chariot— / full of haughtiness, wrath, pride, and prowess,

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manifesting [his power] and shouting defiance, the lord of the Dānavas advanced. / He mounted a chariot yoked with a thousand eagles,

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equipped with every weapon, protected by every missile, / filled with the prosperity of the three worlds, resounding like the Destroyer at the end of an eon.

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Accompanied by a great army, making the cardinal and intermediate directions resound, / the thousand-eyed [Indra], seeing him, abandoned his elephant mount,

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and [boarded] the chariot driven by Mātali, adorned with refined gold, / four yojanas in breadth, surrounded by hosts of Siddhas,

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celebrated in song by Gandharvas and Kinnaras, crowded with the dancing of apsarases,

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greatly formidable with all kinds of weapons, and encrusted with magnificent jewels. / Having surrounded that chariot on all sides, they stood,

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the guardians of the quarters, clad in mail, standing with the eagle-bannered [Viṣṇu]. / Then the earth trembled, and a harsh wind blew through the troops of Maruts;

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the seven oceans stirred, and the radiance of the sun perished; / then the missiles blazed, and then the mounts trembled.

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Then everything was agitated, and then Tāraka was seen: / on one side stood the Daitya Tāraka, and on the other, the hosts of gods;

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on one side was the ruin of the world, on the other the world's deliverance; / and all moving and unmoving creatures were filled with fear and wonder.

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O Pārtha, the gods shouted praise in that encounter:

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'Missiles, splendors, riches, warriors, renown, strength, and heroic valor, / were the courage and vigor of these gods and Asuras; but our [strength] comes entirely from austerity!'

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Then, as he approached, the gods with straight-flying shafts / tipped with fire-like points shot against Tāraka.

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Taking no heed of those gods' arrows striking his chest, that lord of Daityas, / the Dānava filled the sky, the quarters, and the earth with his arrows.

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He pierced Nārāyaṇa with seventy, the Fire-god with ninety, / the Wind on the head with ten, and Yama with ten as well;

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and the Giver of Wealth with seventy, and likewise Varuṇa with eight, / the Daitya struck Nirṛti with twenty, and again with eight;

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again he pierced each one with ten arrows that penetrate vital spots; / and likewise the Daitya pierced Mātali with three swift shafts,

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and Garuḍa with ten, and the buffalo [of Yama] with nine. / Then the Daitya, with straight-jointed arrows, reduced to sesame-sized pieces

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the gods' coats of mail and severed their bows. / Then the gods, deprived of armor and bows, severely afflicted,

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seized other bows, but as they were releasing their arrows, / he aimed an arrow blazing like the fire of cosmic dissolution,

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and struck Śakra in the chest; he too fainted. / Then, looking up into the sky and seeing those two who resembled a hundred suns,

1.4.19.179

he struck Tārkṣya and Viṣṇu with two arrows so that both swooned. / With sharp arrows, he confounded the lord of spirits, Agni, and Varuṇa,

1.4.19.180

and rendered Nirṛti utterly helpless, making them tremble in terror; / trapping the Wind with his arrows, he left him breathless.

1.4.19.181

Then Hari, regaining consciousness and rallying the lords of the quarters, / severed with an arrow the head of [Tāraka's] charioteer, earring and all, from his body.

1.4.19.182

Enraged, he cut down the flaming comet-banner [of the chariot]; / then Vāsava sheared off the crown of the Daitya king;

1.4.19.183

and the lord of wealth, angered, shattered his bow in many pieces with arrows; / Vāyu reduced the chariot and its axle to sesame-sized fragments;

1.4.19.184

then in the battle, Nirṛti sliced his armor into sesame-sized pieces with arrows. / Having performed this peerless deed, they cried, 'Halt! Halt!'

1.4.19.185

Licking the corners of their mouths, the gods headed by Vāsudeva stood firm. / Seeing that deed of the gods, Tāraka of matchless prowess

1.4.19.186

hurled a dread club at the thousand-eyed [Indra] in the battle. / Seeing the irresistible club coming across the battlefield,

1.4.19.187

the subduer of Pāka leaped from the chariot and went to the ground; / the club fell upon the chariot-seat with a harsh roar.

1.4.19.188

It pulverized the chariot, but Mātali did not die. / Grasping a spear, the Daitya struck Keśava on the chest;

1.4.19.189

he sank down unconscious on the shoulder of Garutmat. / Piercing the king of the Rākṣasas with a sword, he felled him to the earth,

1.4.19.190

and the Daitya felled Yama to the earth, having struck him in the face; / and striking Agni with a sling-missile, he rendered him senseless.

1.4.19.191

Then, kicking Vāyu with his foot, he threw him down to the ground; / enraged, he beat the lord of wealth with the tip of his bow.

1.4.19.192

Then, in merely a moment, he struck down each of the hosts of gods / with their very own weapons, like a teacher striking boys.

1.4.19.193

Then Viṣṇu, having regained his senses, seized his irresistible discus / stained with the fat, marrow, and blood of lordly Dānavas.

1.4.19.194

Keśava hurled it hard against the chest of the lord of Dānavas; / the discus, radiant as the sun, struck the Daitya,

1.4.19.195

and shattered against his body like a blue lotus against a stone. / Then Mahendra too hurled his thunderbolt, long worshiped,

1.4.19.196

in which rested Śakra's hope of victory against the Dānava king in battle; / but striking the body of the valiant Tāraka,

1.4.19.197

it shattered, its flames scattered, broken into a hundred pieces. / Then the dauntless Vāyu, roaring with great speed,

1.4.19.198

hurled an elephant-goad resembling blazing fire; / seeing that it too was shattered on his body, Vāyu, in great wrath,

1.4.19.199

then uprooted a lordly mountain, rich in blossoming trees and caves, / ten yojanas wide, and hurled it at the Dānava king.

1.4.19.200

As that mountain was hurtling toward him, the best of Daityas, smiling,
caught it with his left hand, like a boy playfully catching a ball.

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Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit