The Revival of the Daityas

Verse 1 (skanda.8.146.1)

अपसृत्य ततो युद्धादन्धकोऽसुरसत्तमः । शुक्रान्तिकमुपागम्य इदमाह नताननः ।।

apasṛtya tato yuddhādandhako'surasattamaḥ | śukrāntikamupāgamya idamāha natānanaḥ ||

Withdrawing from the battle, Andhaka, foremost of the asuras, went to Shukra and, bowing his head, spoke thus:

Verse 2 (skanda.8.146.2)

भगवँस्त्वां समाश्रित्य वयं देवान् सहानुगान् । गणयामस्तृणैस्तुल्यान् सदा सत्यं ब्रवीम्यहम् ।।

bhagava~stvāṁ samāśritya vayaṁ devān sahānugān | gaṇayāmastṛṇaistulyān sadā satyaṁ bravīmyaham ||

'O Lord, taking refuge in you, we always count the gods and their followers as no more than straws — I speak the truth.'

Verse 3 (skanda.8.146.3)

कुञ्जरा इव सिंहानां गरुडानामिवाहयः । अस्माकं बिभ्यति सदा देवा युष्मत्प्रसादतः ।।

kuñjarā iva siṁhānāṁ garuḍānāmivāhayaḥ | asmākaṁ bibhyati sadā devā yuṣmatprasādataḥ ||

'As elephants fear lions, as serpents fear Garuda, so, by your grace, the gods have always feared us.'

Verse 4 (skanda.8.146.4)

दुर्गं देवगणव्यूहं भवता प्रतिपालिताः । विविशुर्निर्भयाः दैत्या ह्रदमुष्णार्दिता इव ।।

durgaṁ devagaṇavyūhaṁ bhavatā pratipālitāḥ | viviśurnirbhayāḥ daityā hradamuṣṇārditā iva ||

'Protected by you, the daityas plunged fearlessly into the impregnable formation of the gods, as creatures scorched by heat plunge into a cool lake.'

Verse 5 (skanda.8.146.5)

वयं त्वच्छरणा भूत्वा पाषाणा इव निश्चलाः । स्थित्वा वधाम निःशंका ब्राह्मणेन्द्रेन्द्रमाहवे ।।

vayaṁ tvaccharaṇā bhūtvā pāṣāṇā iva niścalāḥ | sthitvā vadhāma niḥśaṁkā brāhmaṇendrendramāhave ||

'Taking your shelter, O foremost of brahmins, we stand unmoving as stone, and could slay even Indra himself in battle without a qualm.'

Verse 6 (skanda.8.146.6)

आपद्भावेन च वयं पादौ तव सुखप्रदौ । सदाराः ससुताश्चैव शुश्रूषामो दिवानिशम् ।।

āpadbhāvena ca vayaṁ pādau tava sukhapradau | sadārāḥ sasutāścaiva śuśrūṣāmo divāniśam ||

'In times of calamity, we, together with our wives and children, serve your comforting feet day and night.'

Verse 7 (skanda.8.146.7)

अभिरक्षस्व सततं स नस्त्वच्छरणागतान् । भयेषु सततं देवान् नारायण इवापरः ।।

abhirakṣasva satataṁ sa nastvaccharaṇāgatān | bhayeṣu satataṁ devān nārāyaṇa ivāparaḥ ||

'Protect us always, who have taken refuge in you, in every peril, as a second Narayana protects the gods.'

Verse 8 (skanda.8.146.8)

पश्य हुण्डं तुहुण्डं च कुजम्भं जम्भमेव च । पाकं कार्तस्वनं चैव विपाकं च महासुरम् ।।

paśya huṇḍaṁ tuhuṇḍaṁ ca kujambhaṁ jambhameva ca | pākaṁ kārtasvanaṁ caiva vipākaṁ ca mahāsuram ||

'Behold Hunda and Tuhunda, Kujambha and Jambha, Paka and Kartasvana, and the great demon Vipaka —

Verse 9 (skanda.8.146.9)

तं चेन्द्रदमनं शूरं शूरामरनिपातनम् । प्रमथैर्भीमविक्रान्तैः क्रान्तमृत्युव्यथादिभिः ।।

taṁ cendradamanaṁ śūraṁ śūrāmaranipātanam | pramathairbhīmavikrāntaiḥ krāntamṛtyuvyathādibhiḥ ||

and those heroes who once subdued Indra and struck down the very gods — all now overtaken by death's agony at the hands of the fiercely valiant pramathas —

Verse 10 (skanda.8.146.10)

सूदितान्पतितानेतान् हरिणैरिव चन्दनान् । या पीत्वा कणधूमं वै सहस्रं शरदां पुरा । विद्या हराद्वरा प्राप्ता तस्याः कालोऽयमागतः ।।

sūditānpatitānetān hariṇairiva candanān | yā pītvā kaṇadhūmaṁ vai sahasraṁ śaradāṁ purā | vidyā harādvarā prāptā tasyāḥ kālo'yamāgataḥ ||

'— fallen and slain, like sandalwood trees gnawed down by deer. The time has now come for that great science you obtained long ago from Hara, after drinking the smoke of grain-husks for a thousand years.'

Verse 11 (skanda.8.146.11)

अथ विद्याफलं तत्ते जीवयानस्य दानवान् । पश्यन्तु प्रमथाः सर्वे लोकाश्चोत्फुल्ललोचनाः ।।

atha vidyāphalaṁ tatte jīvayānasya dānavān | paśyantu pramathāḥ sarve lokāścotphullalocanāḥ ||

'Now, by the fruit of that science, revive the demons, so that all the pramathas and the whole world may watch, their eyes wide with astonishment.'

Verse 12 (skanda.8.146.12)

त्वया सञ्जीवितान् दृष्ट्वा दानवा दानवान् युधि । सर्वे मृत्युभयं हित्वा योत्स्यन्ते प्रमथैः सह ।।

tvayā sañjīvitān dṛṣṭvā dānavā dānavān yudhi | sarve mṛtyubhayaṁ hitvā yotsyante pramathaiḥ saha ||

'Seeing the demons revived by you on the battlefield, they will all cast off the fear of death and fight the pramathas without hesitation.'

Verse 13 (skanda.8.146.13)

विद्या किल त्वया सा वै दानवानां हितार्थिना ।।

vidyā kila tvayā sā vai dānavānāṁ hitārthinā ||

[one line of the source text is lost here] — that science which you, ever seeking the good of the demons, —

Verse 14 (skanda.8.146.14)

आराध्य देवं संप्राप्ता तां दर्शय नमस्तव ।

ārādhya devaṁ saṁprāptā tāṁ darśaya namastava |

'— obtained through the worship of the god Shiva, now display it; I bow to you.' Hearing these words of Andhaka, the steady-minded sage Bhargava (Shukra),

Verse 15 (skanda.8.146.15)

ईषत्स्मितं तदा कृत्वा दानवाधिपमब्रवीत् । दानवाधिप तत्सत्यं यत्त्वया प्रेरितं वचः ।।

īṣatsmitaṁ tadā kṛtvā dānavādhipamabravīt | dānavādhipa tatsatyaṁ yattvayā preritaṁ vacaḥ ||

smiling faintly, said to the lord of demons: 'O king of demons, what you have said is true.'

Verse 16 (skanda.8.146.16)

विद्योपार्जनमेतद्धि दानवानां मया कृतम् । पीत्वा वर्षसहस्रं वै कणधूमं सुदुस्सहम् ।।

vidyopārjanametaddhi dānavānāṁ mayā kṛtam | pītvā varṣasahasraṁ vai kaṇadhūmaṁ sudussaham ||

'It was indeed I who acquired this science for the sake of the demons, having endured a thousand years drinking the well-nigh unbearable smoke of husks.'

Verse 17 (skanda.8.146.17)

एषा प्राप्ता मया विद्या बान्धवानां सुखावहा । एतया विद्यया सोऽहमेतान् दैत्यान् परैर्हतान् ।।

eṣā prāptā mayā vidyā bāndhavānāṁ sukhāvahā | etayā vidyayā so'hametān daityān parairhatān ||

'I obtained this science, a source of joy for my kinsmen. By this same science, I shall now —'

Verse 18 (skanda.8.146.18)

उत्थापयिष्ये सस्यानि म्लानान्यम्बुधरो यथा । निर्व्रणान्नीरुजान् स्वस्थान् सुप्त्वेव पुनरुत्थितान् ।।

utthāpayiṣye sasyāni mlānānyambudharo yathā | nirvraṇānnīrujān svasthān suptveva punarutthitān ||

'— raise up those daityas, as a rain-cloud revives withered crops; they shall rise up whole, unwounded, well again, as though merely waking from sleep.'

Verse 19 (skanda.8.146.19)

अस्मिन् मुहूर्ते द्रष्टासि दानवान्दानवाधिप । उत्थितान्दानवान् दृष्ट्वा हतान् युद्धे गणेश्वरैः ।।

asmin muhūrte draṣṭāsi dānavāndānavādhipa | utthitāndānavān dṛṣṭvā hatān yuddhe gaṇeśvaraiḥ ||

'O king of demons, this very moment you shall see the demons slain in battle by the gana-lords rise up again.'

Verse 20 (skanda.8.146.20)

विस्मयाच्च भयाच्चैव द्रविष्यन्ति गणेश्वराः । इत्येवमुक्त्वा स तदा भार्गवो दानवेश्वरम् ।।

vismayācca bhayāccaiva draviṣyanti gaṇeśvarāḥ | ityevamuktvā sa tadā bhārgavo dānaveśvaram ||

'And the gana-lords, in astonishment and fear, will flee.' Having said this to the lord of demons, Bhargava —

Verse 21 (skanda.8.146.21)

एकैकं दैत्यमुद्दिश्य विद्यामावर्तयत्कविः । आवर्तमानया तत्र विद्यया ब्राह्मणेन ह ।।

ekaikaṁ daityamuddiśya vidyāmāvartayatkaviḥ | āvartamānayā tatra vidyayā brāhmaṇena ha ||

— that wise sage began chanting his science, invoking each daitya one by one. As that brahmin repeated the incantation —

Verse 22 (skanda.8.146.22)

उत्तस्थुर्दानवाः सुप्ताः शयनादिव निद्रया । वेदार्था इव चाभ्यस्ताः समयेनेव चाम्बुदाः ।।

uttasthurdānavāḥ suptāḥ śayanādiva nidrayā | vedārthā iva cābhyastāḥ samayeneva cāmbudāḥ ||

— the sleeping demons rose up as one wakes from slumber on a bed, as diligently studied scriptural meanings return to mind, as clouds gather again with the coming of the season.

Verse 23 (skanda.8.146.23)

कालेन प्रलयं प्राप्तौ यथा वा धूमकेतवः । तथा शुक्रेण ते दैत्याः प्रमथैः सन्निषूदिताः ।।

kālena pralayaṁ prāptau yathā vā dhūmaketavaḥ | tathā śukreṇa te daityāḥ pramathaiḥ sanniṣūditāḥ ||

As comets, absorbed into dissolution, reappear again with time, so those daityas, slain by the pramathas, were restored to life by Shukra.

Verse 24 (skanda.8.146.24)

उत्थाप्यमाना विबभुर्यथा स्वस्थाः पुरातनाः । शुक्रेणोज्जीवितान् दृष्ट्वा दानवान् तान् गणेश्वराः ।।

utthāpyamānā vibabhuryathā svasthāḥ purātanāḥ | śukreṇojjīvitān dṛṣṭvā dānavān tān gaṇeśvarāḥ ||

As they were raised up, they shone forth whole and hale as before. Seeing those demons brought back to life by Shukra, the gana-lords —

Verse 25 (skanda.8.146.25)

आश्चर्यमेतद्देवेशा इति तेऽन्योन्यमब्रुवन् । उज्जीविताँस्तु तान्दृष्ट्वा तुहुण्डाद्यान् महासुरान् । विनेदुः पूर्वदेवास्ते जलमत्ता इवाम्बुदाः ।।

āścaryametaddeveśā iti te'nyonyamabruvan | ujjīvitā~stu tāndṛṣṭvā tuhuṇḍādyān mahāsurān | vineduḥ pūrvadevāste jalamattā ivāmbudāḥ ||

— exclaimed to one another, 'O lords of the gods, this is a wonder indeed!' Seeing Tuhunda and the other great demons thus brought back to life, those elder gods (the danavas, so styled of old) roared out in joy like storm-clouds swollen with rain.

Verse 26 (skanda.8.146.26)

तानुत्थितान्वीक्ष्य सहस्रशोऽन्ये कुठारवज्राशनिशूलहस्ताः । प्रदुद्रुवुः शङ्करकिङ्कराणां बलं समुद्धूतमहार्णवाभम् ।।

tānutthitānvīkṣya sahasraśo'nye kuṭhāravajrāśaniśūlahastāḥ | pradudruvuḥ śaṅkarakiṅkarāṇāṁ balaṁ samuddhūtamahārṇavābham ||

Seeing them rise up by the thousand, other demons, axes, thunderbolts and tridents in hand, charged at the army of Shankara's attendants, vast as a churning ocean.

Verse 27 (skanda.8.146.27)

समागमस्तत्र पुनर्बभूव गणासुराणामतिभीमनादः । युगात्यये मारुतवेजितानां यथा समुद्योग इवार्णवानाम् ।।

samāgamastatra punarbabhūva gaṇāsurāṇāmatibhīmanādaḥ | yugātyaye mārutavejitānāṁ yathā samudyoga ivārṇavānām ||

There the ganas and the demons clashed once more with a most terrible roar, like the churning fury of oceans lashed by the wind at the end of an age.