Skandapurana 2.4.18
English (machine translation) 2.4.18
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Nārada said:
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Hearing that, Jalandhara, his body agitated with rage,
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set out immediately, surrounded by millions of Daityas. (1)
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As he set forth, Śukra and Rāhu came into his line of sight,
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and slipping swiftly, his crown then fell to the ground. (2)
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Then, crowded with the Daitya army and hundreds of aerial chariots,
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the filled sky shone like [the heavens] covered with clouds during the monsoon. (3)
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Seeing his preparation then, the gods led by Śakra,
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went unseen and informed the Bearer of the Trident: (4)
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The gods said:
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Lord, all-pervading one, how do you not know of this calamity that has befallen the gods?
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Therefore, for the sake of our protection, slay the son of the ocean! (5)
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Nārada said:
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Hearing this speech of the gods, the Bull-bannered [Śiva] laughed,
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and having summoned Mahāviṣṇu, he spoke these words: (6)
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Īśvara said:
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Viṣṇu, why was Jalandhara not slain by you in battle?
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And you have even gone to his house, leaving your own Vaikuṇṭha! (7)
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Viṣṇu said:
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Because he arose as a portion of you, and because he is the brother of Śrī,
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he was not slain by me in the fight. You slay this Dānava! (8)
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Īśvara said:
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This immensely fiery one cannot be slain by me with these [ordinary] weapons and missiles.
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Along with the gods, give me a portion of your own splendour for a weapon. (9)
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Nārada said:
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Then the gods headed by Viṣṇu yielded their own splendours.
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Seeing them unite together, the Lord also released his own lustre. (10)
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From that lustre, Mahādeva forged an supreme weapon,
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the discus named Sudarśana, terrifying with garlands of flames. (11)
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Then with what remained, Hari made a thunderbolt.
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Meanwhile, Jalandhara was seen upon the grounds of Kailāsa, (12)
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surrounded by millions of elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers.
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Having seen him, all the gods who had been noticed departed just as they had come. (13)
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The Gaṇas equipped themselves for battle in extreme haste,
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all headed by Nandin, the Elephant-faced one, and the General of the Armies, by Śiva's command. (14)
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Frenzied for battle, the Gaṇas swiftly descended from Kailāsa.
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Then a battle broke out in the valley grounds of Kailāsa (15)
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between the Pramatha lords and the Daityas, dense with terrible weapons and missiles,
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accompanied by the sounds of hosts of kettle-drums, mṛdaṅgas, and conches that delighted heroes. (16)
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Echoing with the noise of elephants, horses, and chariots, the earth trembled.
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Filled with javelins, iron clubs, volleys of arrows, maces, spears, and scythes, (17)
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the sky shone as if completely covered by meteors.
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With the slain chariots, elephants, horses, and foot-soldiers, the ground appeared (18)
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as though strewn with fragments of mountain peaks struck down by the thunderbolt.
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With the hosts of Daityas slain by the Pramathas, and the Gaṇas slain by the Daityas, (19)
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the ground, thick with mud of fat, blood, and flesh, then became impassable.
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Bhārgava revived the hosts of Daityas slain by the Pramathas, (20)
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again and again there in the battle, by the power of the Mṛtasaṃjīvinī [spell].
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Seeing that, all the Gaṇas, thrown into confusion and filled with fear,
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reported all that deed of Śukra to the God of gods. (21)
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Then from the mouth of Rudra arose an exceedingly terrifying female spirit (Kṛtyā),
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with shanks like palm trees, a cavernous mouth, and breasts that crushed down trees. (22)
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Reaching the battlefield, devouring the great asuras,
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and holding Bhārgava in her vulva, she disappeared into the sky.
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Seeing Bhārgava held captive, the gaṇas then,
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their faces unwithering, struck down the daitya army with joy, furious in battle.
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Then the army of the daityas broke, afflicted with fear of the gaṇas,
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scattered like a mass of grass struck by the force of the wind.
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Seeing the army broken through fear of the gaṇas, filled with wrath,
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the two generals Niśumbha and Śumbha, and the valiant Kālanemi, advanced.
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Those three of great strength checked the army of gaṇas,
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releasing showers of arrows like clouds in the rainy season.
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Then those floods of the daityas' arrows, like swarms of locusts,
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blocked the sky and all the directions, making the army of gaṇas tremble.
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The gaṇas, pierced by hundreds of arrows, raining down torrents of blood,
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resembled kiṃśuka trees in spring; nothing at all could be discerned.
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Fallen and being felled, pierced and severed, the gaṇas then
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abandoned the field of battle and all turned their backs.
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Then, seeing their own force broken, Śailādi, Lambodara, and Kārtikeya,
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filled with haste, being wrathful, forcibly held back the foremost daityas.
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Thus ends the eighteenth chapter, named 'The Defeat of Rudra's Army,' in the story of Jalandhara, in the Kārtikamāsamāhātmya, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit