"Arjuna continued, 'Then while returning, I happened to descry a mighty
unearthly city, moving at will, and having the effulgence of fire or the
sun. And that city contained various trees composed of gems, and
sweet-voiced feathered ones. And furnished with four gates, and
gate-ways, and towers, that impregnable (city) was inhabited by the
_Paulamas_ and _Kalakanjas_. And it was made of all sorts of jewels and
was unearthly, and of wonderful appearance. And it was covered with
trees of all kinds of gems, bearing fruits and flowers. And it contained
exceedingly beautiful unearthly birds. And it always swarmed throughout
with cheerful _Asuras_, wearing garlands, and bearing in their hands
darts, two edged swords, maces, bows, and clubs. And, O king, on seeing
this wonderful city of the Daityas, I asked Matali saying, "What is this
that looketh so wonderful?" Thereat, Matali replied, "Once on a time a
_Daitya's_ daughter, named _Pulama_ and a mighty female of the _Asura_
order, _Kalaka_ by name, practised severe austerities for a thousand
celestial years. And at the end of their austerities, the self-create
conferred on them boons. And, O king of kings, they received these
boons,--that their offspring might never suffer misfortune; that they
might be incapable of being destroyed even by the gods, the _Rakshasas_
and the _Pannagas_; and that they might obtain a highly effulgent and
surpassingly fair aerial city, furnished with all manner of gems and
invincible even by the celestials, the _Maharshis_, the _Yakshas_, the
_Gandharvas_, the _Pannagas_, the _Asuras_ and the _Rakshasas_. O best
of the Bharatas, this is that unearthly aerial city devoid of the
celestials, which is moving about, having been created for the
_Kalakeyas_, by _Brahma_ himself. And this city is furnished with all
desirable objects, and is unknown of grief or disease. And, O hero,
celebrated under the name of _Hiranyapura_, this mighty city is
inhabited by the _Paulamas_ and the _Kalakanjas_; and it is also guarded
by those mighty _Asuras_. And, O king, unslayed by any of the gods,
there they dwell cheerfully, free from anxiety and having all their
desires gratified, O foremost of kings. Formerly, _Brahma_ had destined
destruction at the hands of mortals. Do thou, O Partha, in fight,
compass with that weapon--the thunder-bolt--the destruction of the
mighty and irrepressible _Kalakanjas_."'
"Arjuna continued, 'O lord of men, learning that they were incapable of
being destroyed by the celestials and the _Asuras_, I cheerfully said
unto Matali, "Do thou speedily repair into yonder city. With weapons
will I compass the annihilation of the haters of the lord of the
celestials. Surely, there exist no wicked haters of the gods who ought
not to be slain by me." Thereupon Matali took me to the vicinity of
_Hiranyapura_ on the celestial chariot yoked with steeds. And seeing me,
those sons of Diti, wearing various kinds of attire and ornament and
accoutred in mail, flew at me with a mighty rush. And those foremost of
the _Danavas_, of exceeding prowess, in wrath attacked me with arrows
and _bhallas_ and clubs and two-edged swords, and _tomaras_. Thereat, O
king, resorting to my strength of lore, I resisted that great volley of
weapons by a mighty shower of shafts; and also confounded them in
conflict by ranging around in my car. And being bewildered, the
_Danavas_ began to push each other down. And having been confounded,
they rushed at one another. And with flaming arrows, I severed their
heads by hundreds. And hard pressed by me, the offspring of Diti, taking
shelter within (their) city, soared with it to the firmament, resorting
to the illusion proper to the _Danavas_. Thereupon, O son of the Kurus,
covering the way of the _Daityas_, with a mighty discharge of shafts I
obstructed their course. Then by virtue of the bestowal of the boon, the
_Daityas_ supported themselves easily on that sky-ranging unearthly
aerial city, going anywhere at will and like unto the sun. And now (the
city) entered unto the earth and now it rose upwards; and at one time it
went in a crooked way and at another time it submerged into water. At
this, O represser of foes, I assailed that mighty city, going anywhere
at will, and resembling _Amaravati_. And, O best of the Bharatas, I
attacked the city containing those sons of Diti, with multitudes of
shafts, displaying celestial weapons. And battered and broken by the
straight-coursing iron shafts, shot by me, the city of the _Asuras_, O
king, fell to the earth. And they also, wounded by my iron arrows having
the speed of the thunder, began, O monarch, to go about, being urged by
destiny. Then ascending to the sky, Matali, as if falling in front,
swiftly descended to the earth, on that chariot of solar resplendence.
Then, O Bharata, environed me sixty thousand cars belonging to those
wrathful ones eager to battle with me. And with sharpened shafts graced
with feathers of the vulture, I destroyed those (cars). At this,
thinking, "These our hosts are incapable of being vanquished by
mortals," they became engaged in the conflict, like unto the surges of
the sea. Thereupon I gradually began to fix (on the string) unearthly
weapons. At this, thousands of weapons (shot) by those wonderfully
warring charioteers, by degrees opposed my unearthly arms and in the
field I saw hundreds and thousands of mighty (demons) ranging on their
cars, in various manoeuvres. And being furnished with variegated mail
and standards and diverse ornaments, they delighted my mind. And in the
conflict I could not afflict them by showers of shafts, but they did not
afflict me. And being afflicted by those innumerable ones, equipped in
weapons and skilled in fight, I was pained in that mighty encounter and
a terrible fear seized me. Thereupon collecting (my energies) in fight,
I (bowed down) unto that god of gods, _Raudra_, and saying, "May welfare
attend on all beings!" I fixed that mighty weapon which, celebrated
under the name of _Raudra_, is the destroyer of all foes. Then I beheld
a male person having three heads, nine eyes, three faces, and six arms.
And his hair was flaming like fire or the sun. And, O slayer of foes,
for his dress, he had mighty serpents, putting out their tongues. And
saying, O best of the Bharatas, the dreadful and eternal _Raudra_, I
being free from fear, set it on the _Gandiva_; and, bowing unto the
three-eyed _Sarva_ of immeasurable energy, let go (the weapon), with the
object of vanquishing those foremost of the _Danavas_, O Bharata. And, O
lord of men, as soon as it had been hurled, there appeared on the scene
by thousands, forms of deer, and of lions, and of tigers, and of bears
and of buffaloes, and of serpents, and of kine, and of sarabhas, and of
elephants, and of apes in multitudes, and of bulls, and of boars, and of
cats, and of dogs, and of spectres, and of all the _Bhurundas_, and of
vultures, and of Garudas, of _chumaras_, and of all the leopards, and of
mountains, and of seas, and of celestials, and of sages, and of all the
_Gandharvas_, and of ghosts with the _Yakshas_, and of the haters of the
gods, (_Asuras_), and of the _Guhyakas_ in the field, and of the
_Nairitas_ and of elephant-mouthed sharks, and of owls, and of beings
having the forms of fishes and horses, and of beings bearing swords and
various other weapons, and of _Rakshasas_ wielding maces and clubs. And
on that weapon being hurled all the universe became filled with these as
well as many others wearing various shapes. And again and again wounded
by beings of various sights with (pieces of) flesh, fat, bones, and
marrow on their persons,--some having three heads, and some four tusks,
and some four mouths, and some four arms,--the _Danavas_ met with
destruction. And, then, O Bharata, in a moment I slew all those
_Danavas_, with other swarms of arrows composed of the quintessence of
stone, flaming like fire or the sun, and possessed of the force of the
thunder-bolt. And, seeing them hewn by the _Gandiva_, and deprived of
life, and thrown from the sky, I again bowed unto that god--the
Destroyer of _Tripura_. And, seeing those adorned with unearthly
ornaments, crushed by the weapon, the _Raudra_, the charioteer of the
celestials, experienced the greatest delight. And having witnessed the
accomplishment of that unbearable feat incapable of being achieved even
by the celestials themselves, Matali, the charioteer of Sakra, paid
homage unto me; and well-pleased, with joint hands said these words.
"The feat that hath been achieved by thee, is incapable of being borne
even by the gods, nay,--in battle, the lord of the celestials himself
cannot perform this deed. The sky-coursing mighty city incapable of
being destroyed by the gods and the Asuras hast thou, O hero, crushed by
thy own prowess and by the energy of asceticism." And when that aerial
city had been destroyed, and when the _Danavas_ also had been slain,
their wives, uttering cries of distress, like unto Kurari birds, with
hair dishevelled came out of the city. And bewailing for their sons and
brothers and fathers, they fell on the ground and cried with distressful
accents. And on being deprived for their lords, they beat their breasts,
their garlands and ornaments fallen off. And that city of _Danavas_, in
appearance like unto the city of the _Gandharvas_ filled with
lamentations and stricken with dole and distress, and bereft of grace
even like unto a lake deprived of (its) elephants, or like unto a forest
deprived of trees and (deprived of its) masters, looked no longer
beautiful--but it vanished, like a cloud-constructed city. And when I
had accomplished the task, from the field Matali took me of delighted
spirits, unto the abode of the lord of the celestials. And having slain
those mighty Asuras, and destroyed _Hiranyapura_, and having also killed
the _Nivata-Kavachas_, I came unto Indra. And, O exceedingly resplendent
one, as it had fallen out, Matali related in detail unto Devendra that
entire achievement of mine. And with the Marutas, hearing of the
destruction of _Hiranyapura_, of the neutralisation of the illusion, and
of the slaughter of the highly powerful Nivatakavachas in fight, the
prosperous thousand-eyed divine _Purandara_ was well pleased, and
exclaimed, "Well done; Well done!" And the king of the celestials
together with the celestials, cheering me again and again, said these
sweet words, "By thee hath been achieved a feat incapable of being
achieved by the gods and the Asuras. And, O Partha, by slaying my mighty
enemies, thou hast paid the preceptor's fee. And, O Dhananjaya, thus in
battle shalt thou always remain calm, and discharge the weapons
unerringly, and there shall not stand thee in fight celestials, and
_Danavas_, and _Rakshasas_, and _Yakshas_, and _Asuras_, and
_Gandharvas_ and birds and serpents. And, O Kaunteya, by conquering it
even by the might of thy arms, Kunti's son Yudhishthira, will rule the
earth."'"