Mudgalapurana 6.32: devadaityasamāgamo nāma dvātriṃśattamo'dhyāyaḥ

Salutations to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

The Śaktis said: / "For the purpose of slaying Kāmāsura, the divine sages, filled with devotion, / prayed to Gajānana; how, oh, did they become desireless?"

The Ādiśakti said: / Now, O Śaktis, I shall proclaim the path with desire and without desire; / listen to it with devotion so as to sever your doubt.

Those who, full of desire, worship God with emotional attachment / for the nourishment of their own bodies and the like, or for renown—know them to be [sakāma] people.

Those who, free from desire and endowed with devotion, worship that God / solely for the fulfillment of their own respective dharma and for the service of God—they are desireless.

Listen, O dear ones, to the desireless devotion performed by the lords of the gods; / I shall describe its characteristic mark out of a wish for your welfare.

"Brahmā and the foremost [gods] were created for the sake of creation, maintenance, and dissolution; / we are that very service to you. You are at play, O Gajānana!

Remaining in the heart of all, free from fault, you enjoy the objects of experience; / therefore, O Gaṇeśa, service to you nourishes the body.

For your pleasure we joyfully perform the action born of our own respective dharma, / such as creation, O Lord; for that purpose we pray [to you].

Now our supreme service to you has been broken by the chief of the Daityas; / protect us, who are unable to perform it and eager to serve!"

Thus was Vikaṭa prayed to by the gods—there is no doubt here— / by those who had no longing for bodily enjoyment and the like, nor even for renown.

By all who are endowed with their own dharma, the action arising from their respective duties / is to be performed for the pleasure of Ḍhuṇḍhi; that indeed is considered desireless.

Now, O goddesses, hear the great ongoing deed / of Vikaṭa in particular, by which devotion is attained.

Kumbhakarṇa and all the others went, filled with fear, / to the immensely heroic Kāmāsura and reported that event:

"Mayūreśa has arrived, and he is called Vikaṭa; / prayed to by the gods, O Lord, he will slay the great asuras.

By the fall of his gaze the gods have been filled with splendor, / while we have been stripped of splendor. Behold this wonder, O wise one!

Taking refuge in Vikaṭa will bring you good fortune; / otherwise the destruction of the hosts of asuras is certain now."

Hearing Kumbhakarṇa's words, Bali was filled with rage; / reproaching him, he spoke these words in the presence of all:

Bali said:
"Why are you so deluded, that you speak like one who is distraught? / What embodied being can withstand the onslaught of Kāmāsura?"

Hearing Bali's words, the powerful asura Kāma, / with a grieving heart, spoke to the foremost Daityas:

Kāmāsura said:
"The voice has proven true; my enemy has arrived while I was at peace. / Shall I slay him, or shall I die? What will happen there?"

Hearing Kāmāsura's words, Durmada, the great asura, / filled with splendor and heroic vigor, spoke these words:

Durmada said:
"Vikaṭa was seen by Kumbhakarṇa, of that there is no doubt; / yet he is subject to origination and destruction—consider this, O wise one!

Whatever is seen indeed perishes; see this, O expert in the Veda! / How can he slay you, O great king, who are endowed with boons?

Do not worry, O king of kings! We shall slay your enemy, / and endowed with victories we will be victorious there, of that there is no doubt.

Command us, O great Daitya, servants of your feet! / Behold our great valor, which brings about the supreme destruction of the gods.

This terrifying voice from the sky was an illusion fabricated by the gods, / having created him through illusion to cause fear in the Daityas and Rākṣasas.

This was surely no voice from the sky; consider this, O wise one! / How can an embodied being slay you, who possess great strength?"

Hearing Durmada's words, the great asuras headed by Bali, / filled with joy, said to him again: "You have spoken the truth."

Then Kāmāsura, equipped by all the chiefs of the Daityas / accompanied by their fourfold armies, marched out toward Gajānana.

Then, though instructed by Śukra with many words, / the lord of the Daityas, arrogant with intoxication and bewildered by the pride of strength, did not heed.

Knowing what was destined, Kāvya, the renowned foremost sage, / resigning himself to the power of time, the master followed after him.

All the Daityas, filled with wrath and highly elated, / marched to crush the gods to the place where the gods formerly stood.

"Om Tat Sat." Thus ends the thirty-second chapter, named "The Confrontation of the Gods and Daityas," in the story of Vikaṭa, in the sixth section of the glorious and supreme Purāṇa-Upaniṣad, the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa.