Skandapurana 5.34

English (machine translation) 5.34

Language: English

5.34.1

The seers said: / "As for that which was mentioned by you concerning that sage, O son of Sūta: / 'Long ago, for the sake of the gods, the ocean of water was drunk up by you'—

5.34.2

Tell us that in detail, O wise son of Sūta, / how formerly the ocean of water was drunk up by that sage."

5.34.3

Sūta said: / Formerly there arose the foremost Dānavas known as the Kāleyas, / who destroyed the strength and enthusiasm of all the gods.

5.34.4

Then, seeing the three worlds oppressed by them, the mighty Viṣṇu / spoke through the power of his yoga to the god Maheśvara:

"O Īśāna, the three worlds are utterly tormented by the Daiteyas, / the Kālikeyas of great valor; therefore a great battle must be fought / with them this very day, O god, descending upon the earth's surface."

5.34.6

Then Viṣṇu, Rudra, and the thousand-eyed [Indra] along with the gods, / all bearing sharpened weapons, arrived on the surface of the earth.

5.34.7

Then all those Dānavas, hearing that the gods had assembled, / quickly advanced to meet them, filled with rage, to fight.

5.34.8

Then a great battle took place between the gods and the Dānavas, / by which all the three worlds were shaken, overcome with fear.

5.34.9

Then the Dānava named Kālaprabha, proud of his strength, / seeing Śakra standing before him with the thunderbolt raised in his hand, / laughed and spoke with a voice deep as a thundercloud:

5.34.10

"Release your thunderbolt, O thousand-eyed one! Let me see your manly strength! / By good fortune, after a long time, you, the lord of heaven, have come within my sight!"

5.34.11

Then Śatakratu, deeply enraged, hurled his thunderbolt at him; / but he caught it playfully and seized it with his left hand.

5.34.12

Then, aiming at Śakra, he hurled a heavy mace / made entirely of iron, dreadful, like a second tongue of Yama.

5.34.13

Struck by it, the thousand-eyed [Indra] lost consciousness, bathed in blood; / leaning against the flagpole, he collapsed upon the chariot.

5.34.14

Then Mātali, seeing that slayer of Vala unconscious / and recalling the duty of a charioteer, turned the chariot eastward.

5.34.15

Then, when Śakra's chariot turned away in the battle, / all the gods fled in all directions, terrified with fear.

5.34.16

The Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Viśvedevas, and troops of Maruts, / casting aside shame, were shattered in the rear by sharp arrows.

5.34.17

Then Madhusūdana, seeing the army broken by the Dānavas, / mounted Garuḍa and swiftly rushed upon Kālaprabha.

5.34.17_1

Then all those Dānavas surrounded [him] and covered him completely / with sharp arrows, roaring again and again.

5.34.19

Covered by them, Viṣṇu shone on all sides, / with his limbs thoroughly bristling [with arrows], like another mountain of blood.

5.34.20

Then, having severed the nets of arrows with heron-feathered arrows / shot from the Śārṅga bow, he struck down the Daiteyas.

5.34.21

Then all the hosts of Daityas, being struck down by the enemy of the asuras, / found no protector, like deer harassed by a lion.

5.34.22

In the meantime, a Daitya known as Kālakhañja, / overcome with fury, rushed against Vāsudeva.

5.34.23

Striking Vāsudeva with five stone-sharpened arrows, / enraged, he struck Garuḍa with ten straight-jointed shafts.

5.34.24

Then, to slay that Daitya, Mādhava released / the Sudarśana discus surrounded by garlands of flames.

5.34.25

Seeing that discus loosed from Vāsudeva's hand, / he opened his mouth and went before it to swallow it as it approached.

5.34.26

The great Daitya swallowed it and shouted, "Halt, halt!" / Addressing Vāsudeva, he then shot arrows [at him].

5.34.27

Then the discus-wielder, struck by that Daitya who had swallowed his discus, / along with Garuḍa, fell into acute distress.

5.34.28

In the meantime, the blessed destroyer of Tripura, enraged / upon seeing Hari in such a state and Śakra also turning back,

5.34.29

then killed that son of Danu with a blow of his trident / and struck down others in great numbers with arrows shot from Pināka.

5.34.30

The blessed Śambhu struck down Kālaprabha, Prakāla, / Kālāsya, and Kālavigraha, as well as other leaders.

5.34.31

Then all those chief Dānavas, though fierce, / took to flight, devoid of enthusiasm for conquering their enemies.

5.34.32

Then Śakra and Viṣṇu, having regained consciousness and seizing their weapons, / stood at the forefront of the battle, praising Mahādeva.

5.34.33

In the meantime, seeing the sons of Danu broken, / all the gods along with Indra struck them down with hundreds of arrows and weapons.

5.34.34

Then those mighty Dānavas, mostly slaughtered, / being struck with sharp arrows by the gods appearing victorious,

5.34.35

entered the abode of Varuṇa, which was unapproachable even in thought by them, / all their limbs wounded by weapons, their leaders slain, in great misery.

5.34.35_2

Thus ends the thirty-fourth chapter, named 'Description of the Battle between the Gods and Asuras' in the account of the drinking of the ocean by Agastya, in the māhātmya of Agastya's Hermitage, in the māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit