(Khandava-daha Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then Vibhatsu, the son of Pandu, invoking his
excellent weapons, prevented that shower of rain by Indra, by means of a
shower of his own weapons. And Arjuna of immeasurable soul soon covered
the forest of Khandava with innumerable arrows like the moon covering the
atmosphere with a thick fog. When the sky above that forest was thus
covered with the arrows of Arjuna no living creature could then escape
from below. And it so happened that while that forest was burning,
Takshaka, the chief of the Nagas, was not there, having gone at that time
to the field of Kurukshetra. But Aswasena, the mighty son of Takshaka, was
there. He made great efforts to escape from that fire; but confined by
Arjuna's shafts he succeeded not in finding a way. It was then that his
mother, the daughter of a snake, determined to save him by swallowing him
first. His mother first swallowed his head and then was swallowing his
tail. And desirous of saving her son, the sea-snake rose (up from the
earth) while still employed in swallowing her son's tail. But Arjuna as
soon as he beheld her escaping, severed her head from her body by means of
a sharp and keen-edged arrow. Indra saw all this, and desiring to save his
friend's son, the wielder of the thunderbolt, by raising a violent wind,
deprived Arjuna of consciousness. During those few moments, Aswasena
succeeded in effecting his escape. Beholding that manifestation of the
power of illusion, and deceived by that snake, Arjuna was much enraged. He
forthwith cut every animal seeking to escape by the skies, into two, three,
or more pieces. And Vibhatsu in anger, and Agni, and Vasudeva also, cursed
the snake that had escaped so deceitfully, saying, "Never shalt thou be
famous!" And Jishnu remembering the deception practised upon him, became
angry, and covering the firmament with a cloud of arrows, sought to fight
with him of a thousand eyes. The chief of the celestials also, seeing
Arjuna in anger, sought to fight with him, and hurled his own fierce
weapons, covering the wide expanse of the firmament. Then the winds,
making a loud roar and agitating all the oceans, brought together masses
of clouds in the sky, charged with torrents of rain. Those masses of
clouds began to vomit thunder and terrible flashes of lightning charged
with the thunderclap. Then Arjuna possessing a knowledge of means, hurled
the excellent weapon called Vayavya with proper mantras to dispel those
clouds. With that weapon the energy and force of Indra's thunderbolt and
of those clouds were destroyed. And the torrents of rain with which those
clouds were charged were all dried up, and the lightning that played
amongst them was also destroyed. Within a moment the sky was cleared of
dust and darkness, and a delicious, cool breeze began to blow and the disc
of the sun resumed its normal state. Then the eater of clarified butter
(Agni), glad because none could baffle him, assumed various forms, and
sprinkled over with the fat exuded by the bodies of creatures, blazed
forth with all his flames, filling the universe with his roar. Then
numerous birds of the Garuda tribe bearing excellent feathers, beholding
that the forest was protected by Krishna and Arjuna, descended filled with
pride, from the upper skies, desirous of striking those heroes with their
thunderlike wings, beaks and claws. Innumerable Nagas also, with faces
emitting fire descending from high, approached Arjuna, vomiting the most
virulent poison all the while. Beholding them approach, Arjuna cut them
into pieces by means of arrows steeped in the fire of his own wrath. Then
those birds and snakes, deprived of life, fell into the burning element
below. And there came also, desirous of battle, innumerable Asuras with
Gandharvas and Yakshas and Rakshasas and Nagas sending forth terrific
yells. Armed with machines vomiting from their throats (mouths) iron
balls and bullets, and catapults for propelling huge stones, and rockets,
they approached to strike Krishna and Partha, their energy and strength
increased by wrath. But though they rained a perfect shower of weapons,
Vibhatsu, addressing them reproachfully, struck off their heads with his
own sharp arrows. That slayer of foes, Krishna, also, endued with great
energy, made a great slaughter of the Daitya and the Danava with his
discus. Many Asuras of immeasurable might, pierced with Krishna's arrows
and smitten with the force of his discus, became motionless like waifs and
strays stranded on the bank by the violence of the waves. Then Sakra the
lord of the celestials, riding on his white elephant, rushed at those
heroes, and taking up his thunderbolt which could never go in vain, hurled
it with great force. And the slayer of Asuras said unto the gods, "These
two are slain." Beholding the fierce thunderbolt about to be hurled
by their chief, the celestials all took up their respective weapons. Yama,
O king, took up the death-dealing mace, and Kuvera his spiked club, and
Varuna his noose and beautiful missile. And Skanda (Kartikeya) took up his
long lance and stood motionless like the mountain of Meru. The Aswins
stood there with resplendent plants in their hands. Dhatri stood, bow in
hand, and Jaya with a thick club. Tvashtri of great strength took up in
wrath, a huge mountain and Surya stood with a bright dart, and Mrityu with
a battle-axe. Aryaman stalked about with a terrible bludgeon furnished
with sharp spikes, and Mitra stood there with a discus sharp as a razor.
And, O monarch, Pusha and Bhaga and Savitri, in wrath, rushed at Krishna
and Partha with bows and scimitars in hand. And Rudras and the Vasus, the
mighty Maruts and the Viswedevas and the Sadhyas, all resplendent with
their own energy,--these and many other celestials, armed with various
weapons rushed against those exalted of men, Krishna and Partha, for
smiting them down. Then were seen in that great conflict wonderful
portents all around robbing every creature of his sense, and resembling
those that appeared at the time of the universal dissolution. But Arjuna
and Krishna, fearless and invincible in battle, beholding Sakra and the
other celestials prepared for fight, calmly waited, bows in hands. Skilled
in battle, those heroes in wrath assailed the advancing host of celestials
with their own thunderlike arrows. The celestials repeatedly routed by
Krishna and Arjuna, at last left the field of battle for fear and sought
the protection of Indra. The Munis who were witnessing the battle from the
skies, beholding the celestials defeated by Madhava and Arjuna, were
filled with wonder. Sakra also repeatedly witnessing their prowess in
battle, became exceedingly gratified, and once more rushed to the assault.
The chastiser of Paka then caused a heavy shower of stones, desiring to
ascertain the prowess of Arjuna who was able to draw the bow even with his
left hand. Arjuna, in great wrath, dispelled with his arrows that thick
shower. Then he of a hundred sacrifices beholding that shower baffled,
once more caused a thicker shower of stones. But the son of the chastiser
of Paka (viz., Arjuna) gratified his father by baffling that shower also
with his swift arrows. Then Sakra, desirous of smiting down the son of
Pandu, tore up with his hands a large peak from Mandara, with tall trees
on it, and hurled it against him. But Arjuna divided that mountain-peak
into a thousand pieces by his swift-going and fire-mouthed arrows. The
fragments of that mountain, in falling through the skies, looked as if the
sun and the moon and the planets, displaced from their positions fell down
on earth. That huge peak fell down upon that forest and by its fall killed
numerous living creatures that dwelt in Khandava.'"