"Markandeya said, 'The illustrious Dhundhu, O king, was the son of Madhu
and Kaitabha, and possessed of great energy and prowess, he underwent
ascetic penances of great austerity and he stood erect on one leg and
reduced his body to a mass of only veins and arteries, and Brahma,
gratified with him, gave him a boon. And the boon he had asked of the
lord Prajapati was in these words, "Let no one among the gods, the
_Danavas_, the _Rakshas_, the Snakes, the _Gandharvas_ and the
_Rakshasas_ be capable of slaying me. Even this is the boon that I ask
of thee." And the Grandsire replied unto him saying, "Let it be as thou
wishest. Go thy way." And thus addressed by the Grandsire, the _Danava_
placed the feet of the Deity on his head and having thus touched with
reverence the Deity's feet he went away and possessed of mighty energy
and prowess. Dhundhu, having obtained the boon hastily approached Vishnu
remembering the death of his father at the hands of that Deity, and the
wrathful Dhundhu having vanquished the gods with the _Gandharvas_ began
to distress all the celestials with Vishnu at their head. And at last O
bull of the Bharata race, that wicked souled _Asura_ arriving at a sea
of sands known by the name of Ujjalaka, began to distress to the utmost
of his might the asylum of Utanka. And endued with fierce energy,
Dhundhu, the son of Madhu and Kaitabha, lay in his subterranean cave
underneath the sands in the observance of fierce ascetic and severe
austerities with the object of destroying the triple world, and while
the _Asura_ lay breathing near the asylum of Utanka that _Rishi_
possessed of the splendour of fire, king Kualaswa with his troops,
accompanied by the Brahmana Utanka, as also by all his sons set out for
that region, O bull of the Bharata race! And after that grinder of foes,
the royal Kuvalaswa, had set out, accompanied by his twenty-one thousand
sons all of whom were exceedingly powerful, the illustrious Lord Vishnu
filled him with his own energy at the command of Utanka and impelled by
the desire of benefiting the triple world and while that invincible hero
was proceeding on his way a loud voice was heard in the sky repeating
the words, "This fortunate and unslayable one will become the destroyer
of Dhundhu to-day." And the gods began to shower upon him celestial
flowers. And the celestial kettle drums began to sound their music
although none played upon them. And during the march of that wise one,
cool breezes began to blow and the chief of the celestials poured gentle
showers wetting the dust on the roads and, O Yudhishthira, the cars of
the celestials could be seen high over the spot where the mighty _Asura_
Dhundhu was. The gods and _Gandharvas_ and great _Rishis_ urged by
curiosity, came there to behold the encounter between Dhundhu and
Kuvalaswa and, O thou of the Kuru race, filled by Narayana with his own
energy, king Kuvalaswa, aided by his sons, soon surrounded that sea of
sands and the king ordered that wilderness to be excavated and after the
king's sons had excavated that sea of sands for seven days, they could
see the mighty _Asura_ Dhundhu. And, O bull of the Bharata race, the
huge body of that _Asura_ lay within those sands, effulgent in its own
energy like the Sun himself. And Dhundhu, O king, was lying covering the
western region of the desert and surrounded on all sides by the sons of
Kuvalaswa, the _Danava_ was assaulted with sharp-pointed shafts and
maces and heavy and short clubs and axes and clubs, with iron spikes and
darts and bright and keen-edged swords, and thus assaulted, the mighty
_Danava_ rose from his recumbent posture in wrath. And enraged, the
_Asura_ began to swallow those various weapons that were hurled at him
and he vomited from his mouth fiery flames like unto those of the fire
called _Samvarta_ that appeareth at the end of the _Yuga_ and by those
flames of his, the _Asura_ consumed all the sons of the king and, O
tiger among men, like the Lord Kapila of old consuming the sons of king
Sagara, the infuriated _Asura_ overwhelming the triple world with the
flames vomited from his mouth, achieved that wonderful feat in a moment.
And, O thou best of the Bharatas, when all those sons of king Kuvalaswa
were consumed by the fire emitted by the _Asura_ in wrath, the monarch,
possessed as he was of mighty energy, then approached the _Danava_ who,
like unto a second Kumbhakarna of mighty energy, had come to the
encounter after waking from his slumbers. From the body of the king, O
monarch, then began to flow a mighty and copious stream of water and
that stream soon extinguished, O king, the fiery flames emitted by the
_Asura_. And, O great king, the royal Kuvalaswa, filled with _Yoga_
force, having extinguished those flames by the water that issued from
his body, consumed that _Daitya_ of wicked prowess with the celebrated
weapon called _Brahma_ for relieving the triple world of its fears, and
the royal sage Kuvalaswa, having consumed that great _Asura_, that foe
of the celestials and slayer of all enemies, by means of that weapon
became like unto a second chief of the triple world and the high-souled
king Kuvalaswa having slain the _Asura_ Dhundhu, became from that
time known by the name of _Dhundhumara_ and from that time he came to be
regarded as invincible in battle, and the gods and the great _Rishis_
who had come to witness that encounter were so far gratified with him
that they addressed him saying, "Ask thou a boon of us!" And thus
solicited by the gods, the king bowed to them and filled with joy, the
king said unto them, with joined hands these words, "Let me be always
able to give wealth unto superior Brahmanas! Let me be invincible as
regards all foes! Let there be friendship between myself and Vishnu! Let
me have no ill-feeling towards any creature! Let my heart always turn to
virtue! And let me (finally) dwell in heaven for ever!" And the gods and
the _Rishis_ and Utanka, hearing this were exceedingly gratified and all
of them said, "Let it be as thou wishest!" And, O king, having also
blessed him with many other speeches, the gods and the great _Rishis_
then went away to their respective abodes. And, O Yudhishthira, after
the slaughter of all his sons, king Kuvalaswa had still three sons left,
and, O thou of the Bharata race, they were called _Dridaswa_ and
_Kapilaswa_ and _Chandraswa_. It is from them, O king, that the
illustrious line of kings belonging to Ikshvaku's race, all possessed of
immeasurable prowess, hath sprung.
"'It was thus, O best of king, that that great _Daitya_ of the name
Dhundhu, the son of Madhu and Kaitabha was slain by Kuvalaswa and it was
for this also that king came to be called by the name of _Dhundhumara_.
And indeed, the name he assumed was no empty one but was literally true.
"'I have now told thee all that thou hadst asked me, viz., all about
that person in consequence of whose act the story of Dhundhu's death
hath become famous. He that listeneth to this holy history connected
with the glory of Vishnu, becometh virtuous and obtaineth children. By
listening to this story on particular lunations, one becometh blessed
with long life and great good fortune. And freed from every anxiety one
ceaseth to have any fear of diseases.'"