( Parva continued)
" said, 'O foremost of Brahmanas, the gods having prepared for battle in that way, , the king of birds, soon came upon those wise ones. And the gods beholding him of excessive strength began to quake with fear, and strike one another with all their weapons. And amongst those that guarded the was Brahmana (the celestial architect), of measureless might, effulgent as the electric fire and of great energy. And after a terrific encounter lasting only a moment, managed by the lord of birds with his talons, beak, and wings, he lay as dead on the fields. And the ranger of the skies making the worlds dark with the dust raised by the hurricane of his wings, overwhelmed the celestials with it. And the latter, overwhelmed with that dust, swooned away. And the immortals who guarded the amrita, blinded by that dust, could no longer see . Even thus did agitate the region of the heavens. And even thus he mangled the gods with the wounds inflicted by his wings and beak.
"Then the god of a thousand eyes commanded (the ), saying, 'Dispel thou you this shower of dust soon. O Maruta, this is indeed, thy your task. Then the mighty soon drove away that dust. And when the darkness had disappeared, the celestials attacked . And as he of great might was attacked by the gods, he began to roar aloud, like the great cloud that appeareth appears in the sky at the end of the Yuga, frightening every creature. And that king of birds, of great energy, that slayer of hostile heroes, then rose on his wings. All the wise ones (the celestials) with amongst them armed with double-edged broad swords, iron maces furnished with sharp spikes, pointed lances, maces, bright arrows, and many a discus of the form of the sun, saw him over head. And the king of birds, attacked them on all sides with showers of various weapons and fought exceedingly hard without wavering for a moment. And the son of , of great prowess blazing in the sky, attacked the gods on all sides with his wings and breast. And blood began to flow copiously from the bodies of the gods mangled by the talons and the beak of . Overcome by the lord of birds, the Sadhyas with the Gandharvas fled eastwards, the Vasus with the Rudras towards the south, the Adityas towards the west, and the twin Aswins towards the north. Gifted with great energy, they retreated fighting, looking back every moment on their enemy.
"And had encounters with the Yakshas, Aswakranda of great courage, Rainuka, the bold Krathanaka, Tapana, Uluka, Swasanaka, Nimesha, Praruja, and Pulina. And the son of mangled them with his wings, talons, and beak, like himself, that chastiser of enemies, and the holder of Pinaka in rage at the end of the Yuga. And those Yakshas of great might and courage, mangled all over by that ranger of the skies, looked like masses of black clouds dropping thick showers of blood.
"And , depriving them of life, and then went to where the amrita was. And he saw that it was surrounded on all sides by fire. And the terrible flames of that fire covered the entire sky. And moved by violent winds, they seemed bent on burning the Sun himself. The illustrious then assumed ninety times ninety mouths and quickly drinking the waters of many rivers with those mouths and returning with great speed, that chastiser of enemies, having wings for his vehicle extinguished that fire with that water. And extinguishing that fire, he assumed a very small form, desirous of entering into (the place where the was).'"
So ends the thirty-second section in the Parva of the Adi Parva.
( Parva continued)
"Santi said, 'And that bird, assuming a golden body bright as the rays of the Sun, entered with great force (the region where the was), like a torrent entering the ocean. And he saw, placed near the , a wheel of steel keen-edged, and sharp as the razor, revolving incessantly. And that fierce instrument, of the splendour of the blazing sun and of terrible form, had been devised by the gods for cutting in pieces all robbers of the . , seeing a passage through it, stopped there for a moment. Diminishing his body, in an instant he passed through the spokes of that wheel. Within the line of the wheel, he beheld, stationed there for guarding the two great snakes of the effulgence of blazing fire, with tongues bright as the lightning-flash, of great energy, with mouth emitting fire, with blazing eyes, containing poison, very terrible, always in anger, and of great activity. Their eyes were ceaselessly inflamed with rage and were also winkless. He who may be seen by even one of the two would instantly be reduced to ashes. The bird of fair feathers suddenly covered their eyes with dust. And unseen by them he attacked them from all sides. And the son of , that ranger of the skies, attacking their bodies, mangled them into pieces. He then approached the without loss of time. Then the mighty son of , taking up the Amrita from the place where it was kept, rose on his wings with great speed, breaking into pieces the machine that had surrounded it. And the bird soon came out, taking the Amrita but without drinking it himself. And he then wended on his way without the least fatigue, darkening the splendour of the Sun.
"And the son of then met on his way along the sky. And was gratified at that act of self-denial on the part of . And that deity, knowing no deterioration, said unto to the ranger of the skies, 'O, I am inclined to grant thee you a boon.' The ranger of the skies thereupon then said, 'I shall stay above thee you.' And he again spake spoke unto to these words, 'I shall be immortal and free from disease without (drinking) Amrita.' said unto to the son of , 'Be it so.' , receiving those two boons, told , 'I also shall grant thee you a boon; therefore, let the possessor of the six attributes ask of me.' then asked the mighty to become his carrier. And he made the bird sit on the flagstaff of his car, saying, 'Even thus thou you shalt shall stay above me.' And the ranger of the skies, of great speed, saying unto to , 'Be it so,' swiftly wended on his way, mocking the wind with his fleetness.
"And while that foremost of all rangers of the skies, that first of winged creatures, , was coursing through the air after wresting the Amrita, hurled at him his thunderbolt. Then , the lord of birds, struck with thunderbolt, spake spoke laughingly unto to engaged in the encounter, in sweet words, saying, 'I shall respect the Rishi (Dadhichi) of whose bone the Vajra hath has been made. I shall also respect the Vajra, and thee you also of a thousand sacrifices. I cast this feather of mine whose end thou you shalt shall not attain. Struck with thy your thunder I have not felt the slightest pain.' And having said this, the king of birds cast a feather of his. And all creatures became exceedingly glad, beholding that excellent feather of so cast off. And seeing that the feather was very beautiful, they said, 'Let this bird be called (having fair feathers). And of a thousand eyes, witnessing this wonderful incident, thought that bird to be some great being and addressed him thus.'
"And said, 'O best of birds, I desire to know the limit of thy your great strength. I also desire eternal friendship with thee you.'"
So ends the thirty-third section in the Parva of the Adi Parva.
( Parva continued)
' continued, ' then said, 'O , let there be friendship between thee you and me as thou you desirest. My strength, know thou you, is hard to bear. O thou you of a thousand sacrifices, the good never approve of speaking highly of their own strength, nor do they speak of their own merits. But being made a friend, and asked by thee you, O friend, I will answer thee you, although self-praise without reason is ever improper. I can bear, on a single feather of mine, O , this Earth, with her mountains and forests and with the waters of the ocean, and with thee you also stationed thereon. Know thou you, my strength is such that I can bear without fatigue even all the worlds put together, with their mobile and immobile objects.'
" continued, 'O , after of great courage had thus spoken, the chief of the gods, the wearer of the (celestial) crown, ever bent upon the good of the worlds, replied, saying, 'It is as thou you sayest say. Everything is possible in thee you. Accept now my sincere and hearty friendship. And if thou you hast have no concern with the , return it to me. Those to whom thou you wouldst would give it would always oppose us.' answered, 'There is a certain reason for which the is being carried by me. I shall not give the to any one for drink. But, O thou you of a thousand eyes, after I have placed it down, thou you, O lord of the heavens, canst can then, taking it up, instantly bring it away.' then said, 'O oviparous one, I am highly gratified with these words now spoken by thee you. O best of all rangers of the skies; accept from me any boon that thou you desirest.'
" continued, 'Then , recollecting the sons of and remembering also the bondage of his mother caused by an act of deception owing to the well-known reason (viz., the curse of ), said, 'Although I have power over all creatures, yet I shall do your bidding. Let, O , the mighty snakes become my food.' The slayer of the Danavas having said unto to him, 'Be it so,' then went to , the god of gods, of great soul, and the lord of Yogins. And the latter sanctioned everything that had been said by . And the illustrious lord of heaven again said unto to , 'I shall bring away the when thou you placest place it down.' And having said so, he bade farewell to . And the bird of fair feathers then went to the presence of his mother with great speed.
"And in joy then spake spoke unto to all the snakes, 'Here have I brought the Amrita. Let me place it on some Kusa grass. O ye you snakes, sitting here, drink of it after ye you have performed your ablutions and religious rites. As said by you, let my mother become, from this day, free, for I have accomplished your bidding.' The snakes having said unto to , 'Be it so,' then went to perform their ablutions. Meanwhile, taking up the Amrita, wended back to heaven. The snakes after performing their ablutions, their daily devotions, and other sacred rites, returned in joy, desirous of drinking the Amrita. They saw that the bed of kusa grass whereon the Amrita had been placed was empty, the Amrita itself having been taken away by a counter-act of deception. And they began to lick with their tongues the kusa grass, as the Amrita had been placed thereon. And the tongues of the snakes by that act became divided in twain. And the kusa grass, too, from the contact with Amrita, became sacred thenceforth. Thus did the illustrious bring Amrita (from the heavens) for the snakes, and thus were the tongues of snakes divided by what did.
"Then the bird of fair feathers, very much delighted, enjoyed himself in those woods accompanied by his mother. Of grand achievements, and deeply reverenced by all rangers of the skies, he gratified his mother by devouring the snakes.
"That man who would listen to this story, or read it out to an assembly of good Brahmanas, must surely go to heaven, acquiring great merit from the recitation of (the feats of) .'"
And so ends the thirty-fourth section in the Parva of the Adi Parva.