(Astika Parva continued)
Sauti said, "Then the Daityas and the Danavas equipped with first-class
armours and various weapons attacked the gods. In the meantime the valiant
Lord Vishnu in the form of an enchantress accompanied by Nara deceived the
mighty Danavas and took away the Amrita from their hands.
"And all the gods at that time of great fright drank the Amrita with
delight, receiving it from Vishnu. And while the gods were partaking of it,
after which they had so much hankered, a Danava named Rahu was also
drinking it among them in the guise of a god. And when the Amrita had
reached Rahu's throat only, Surya and Soma (recognised him and) intimated
the fact to the gods. And Narayana instantly cut off with his discus the
well-adorned head of the Danava who was drinking the Amrita without
permission. And the huge head of the Danava, cut off by the discus and
resembling a mountain peak, then rose up to the sky and began to utter
dreadful cries. And the Danava's headless trunk, falling upon the ground
and rolling thereon, made the Earth tremble with her mountains, forests
and islands. And from that time there is a long-standing quarrel between
Rahu's head and Surya and Soma. And to this day it swalloweth Surya and
Soma (during solar and lunar eclipses).
"Then Narayana quitting his enchanting female form and hurling many
terrible weapons at the Danavas, made them tremble. And thus on the shores
of the salt-water sea, commenced the dreadful battle of the gods and the
Asuras. And sharp-pointed javelins and lances and various weapons by
thousands began to be discharged on all sides. And mangled with the discus
and wounded with swords, darts and maces, the Asuras in large numbers
vomited blood and lay prostrate on the earth. Cut off from the trunks with
sharp double-edged swords, heads adorned with bright gold, fell
continually on the field of battle. Their bodies drenched in gore, the
great Asuras lay dead everywhere. It seemed as if red-dyed mountain peaks
lay scattered all around. And when the Sun rose in his splendour,
thousands of warriors struck one another with weapons. And cries of
distress were heard everywhere. The warriors fighting at a distance from
one another brought one another down by sharp iron missiles, and those
fighting at close quarters slew one another with blows of their fists. And
the air was filled with shrieks of distress. Everywhere were heard the
alarming sounds,--'cut', 'pierce', 'at them', 'hurl down', 'advance'.
"And when the battle was raging fiercely, Nara and Narayana entered the
field. And Narayana seeing the celestial bow in the hand of Nara, called
to mind his own weapon, the Danava-destroying discus. And lo! the discus,
Sudarsana, destroyer of enemies, like to Agni in effulgence and dreadful
in battle, came from the sky as soon as thought of. And when it came,
Narayana of fierce energy, possessing arms like the trunk of an elephant,
hurled with great force that weapon of extraordinary lustre, effulgent as
blazing fire, dreadful and capable of destroying hostile towns. And that
discus blazing like the fire that consumeth all things at the end of Yuga,
hurled with force from the hands of Narayana, and falling constantly
everywhere, destroyed the Daityas and the Danavas by thousands. Sometimes
it blazed like fire and consumed them all; sometimes it struck them down
as it coursed through the sky; and sometimes, falling on the earth, it
drank their life-blood like a goblin.
"On the other hand, the Danavas, white as the clouds from which the rain
hath dropped, possessing great strength and bold hearts, ascended the sky,
and by hurling down thousands of mountains, continually harassed the gods.
And those dreadful mountains, like masses of clouds, with their trees and
flat tops, falling from the sky, collided with one another and produced a
tremendous roar. And when thousands of warriors shouted without
intermission in the field of battle and mountains with the woods thereon
began to fall around, the earth with her forests trembled. Then the divine
Nara appeared at the scene of the dreadful conflict between the Asuras and
the Ganas (the followers of Rudra), and reducing to dust those rocks by
means of his gold-headed arrows, he covered the heavens with dust. Thus
discomfited by the gods, and seeing the furious discus scouring the fields
of heaven like a blazing flame, the mighty Danavas entered the bowels of
the earth, while others plunged into the sea of salt-waters.
"And having gained the victory, the gods offered due respect to Mandara
and placed him again on his own base. And the nectar-bearing gods made the
heavens resound with their shouts, and went to their own abodes. And the
gods, on returning to the heavens, rejoiced greatly, and Indra and the
other deities made over to Narayana the vessel of Amrita for careful
keeping."
And so ends the nineteenth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.