The Battle in Darkness

Verse 1 (skanda.8.92.1)

सनत्कुमार उवाच । नक्षत्राधिपतिं दृष्ट्वा भगवान् हव्यवाहनः । विद्रुतं दानवभयात् पदातिर्योद्धुमुद्यतः

sanatkumāra uvāca | nakṣatrādhipatiṁ dṛṣṭvā bhagavān havyavāhanaḥ | vidrutaṁ dānavabhayāt padātiryoddhumudyataḥ

Sanatkumara said: Seeing the lord of the constellations, the Moon, fleeing in fear of the Danavas, the blessed Fire (Havyavahana), on foot, made himself ready to fight.

Verse 2 (skanda.8.92.2)

स शरैर्दानवरथं ससूतं सहवाजिनम् । सध्वजं सपताकञ्च भस्मसायुज्यमानयत्

sa śarairdānavarathaṁ sasūtaṁ sahavājinam | sadhvajaṁ sapatākañca bhasmasāyujyamānayat

With his arrows he reduced the Danava's chariot - together with its charioteer, its horses, its banner and its pennant - to ashes.

Verse 3 (skanda.8.92.3)

ततोस्य कार्मुकं दिव्यं शरेणानतपर्वणा । विज्यं चकार संक्रुद्धस्तिष्ठतिष्ठेति चाब्रवीत्

tatosya kārmukaṁ divyaṁ śareṇānataparvaṇā | vijyaṁ cakāra saṁkruddhastiṣṭhatiṣṭheti cābravīt

Then, enraged, with a smooth-jointed arrow he unstrung that one's divine bow, and cried, "Stand! Stand!"

Verse 4 (skanda.8.92.4)

अथान्धकश्च राहुश्च प्रह्लादो मय एव च । अन्ये च दानवश्रेष्ठाः कृशानुं पर्यवारयन्

athāndhakaśca rāhuśca prahlādo maya eva ca | anye ca dānavaśreṣṭhāḥ kṛśānuṁ paryavārayan

Then Andhaka, Rahu, Prahlada, and Maya, and other foremost Danavas, surrounded Krishanu (Fire).

Verse 5 (skanda.8.92.5)

सोऽवप्लुत्य तदा तेषां धनूंषि च रथाँस्तथा । ध्वजानि च विचित्राणि ददाह च ररास च

so'vaplutya tadā teṣāṁ dhanūṁṣi ca rathā~stathā | dhvajāni ca vicitrāṇi dadāha ca rarāsa ca

Then, leaping upon them, he burned their bows and their chariots, and their many-coloured banners, and he roared.

Verse 6 (skanda.8.92.6)

कवचानि विचित्राणि शिरांसि च वसूत्तमः । ददाह विकृताकारो नादयन् सर्वतोदिशः

kavacāni vicitrāṇi śirāṁsi ca vasūttamaḥ | dadāha vikṛtākāro nādayan sarvatodiśaḥ

That best of the Vasus, taking on a terrible form, burned their gorgeous suits of armour and their heads, roaring in every direction.

Verse 7 (skanda.8.92.7)

हाहेति नदतां तत्र भगवान् हव्यवाहनः । जिह्वा दधद् बभौ व्यास गुहायां दीपवत् स्थितः

hāheti nadatāṁ tatra bhagavān havyavāhanaḥ | jihvā dadhad babhau vyāsa guhāyāṁ dīpavat sthitaḥ

There, O Vyasa, amid those who cried out "Ha, ha!", the blessed Fire, bearing his tongues of flame, shone like a lamp standing within a cave.

Verse 8 (skanda.8.92.8)

केषाञ्चित् प्रदहत् तानि दानवानां मुखानि सः । पङ्कजानीव फुल्लानि तिमिरारिर्महाप्रभः

keṣāñcit pradahat tāni dānavānāṁ mukhāni saḥ | paṅkajānīva phullāni timirārirmahāprabhaḥ

He, that great-radiance foe of darkness, burning the faces of some of the Danavas, made them seem like blossoming lotuses being scorched.

Verse 9 (skanda.8.92.9)

केषाञ्चित्तु गजेन्द्राणां करान् काञ्चनभूषितान् । ददाह भगवान् वह्निर्दावाग्निर्भुजगानिव

keṣāñcittu gajendrāṇāṁ karān kāñcanabhūṣitān | dadāha bhagavān vahnirdāvāgnirbhujagāniva

And the gold-adorned trunks of some of the lordly elephants the blessed Fire burned, as a forest-conflagration burns serpents.

Verse 10 (skanda.8.92.10)

शरान् शराशनाञ्चैव तथा खङ्गपरिच्छदान् । ददाह भगवान् वह्निर्हस्त्यश्वमपि सर्वशः

śarān śarāśanāñcaiva tathā khaṅgaparicchadān | dadāha bhagavān vahnirhastyaśvamapi sarvaśaḥ

Arrows and bows, as well as sword-scabbards, and elephants and horses too, the blessed Fire burned on every side.

Verse 11 (skanda.8.92.11)

ते हन्यमाना दैत्येन्द्रा विशस्त्रा दुःखिता भृशम् । भ्रमन्ति वितनुत्राश्च तत्र तत्रैव

te hanyamānā daityendrā viśastrā duḥkhitā bhṛśam | bhramanti vitanutrāśca tatra tatraiva

Thus struck down, those lords of the Daityas, disarmed and stripped of their armour, wandered about here and there in great distress - a portion of the verse is lost here in the source manuscript.

Verse 12 (skanda.8.92.12)

तेषां वह्निप्रदीप्तानां दह्यतां सुरविद्विषाम् । हिरण्याक्षः स्वयं राजा पर्जन्यः समपद्यत

teṣāṁ vahnipradīptānāṁ dahyatāṁ suravidviṣām | hiraṇyākṣaḥ svayaṁ rājā parjanyaḥ samapadyata

As those foes of the gods burned, set ablaze by the Fire, Hiranyaksha, their king himself, turned into a rain-cloud, Parjanya.

Verse 13 (skanda.8.92.13)

स मेघभूतो दैत्येन्द्रस्तमग्निं वृष्टिभिस्तदा । प्रशामयत वेगेन संवर्त्तक इवाम्बुदः

sa meghabhūto daityendrastamagniṁ vṛṣṭibhistadā | praśāmayata vegena saṁvarttaka ivāmbudaḥ

That lord of the Daityas, having become a cloud, then swiftly quenched that Fire with torrents of rain, like the cloud of universal dissolution.

Verse 14 (skanda.8.92.14)

तं प्रशान्तं तदालक्ष्य विधुरं हव्यवाहनम् । विप्रचित्तिः शरैस्तीक्ष्णैर्ललाटे समवाकिरत्

taṁ praśāntaṁ tadālakṣya vidhuraṁ havyavāhanam | vipracittiḥ śaraistīkṣṇairlalāṭe samavākirat

Seeing that Fire thus quenched and distressed, Vipracitti showered him on the forehead with sharp arrows.

Verse 15 (skanda.8.92.15)

ततोऽस्य नदतो भूयो मयो दानवसत्तमः । मुखे शरान् महाघोरान्निचखान महासुरः

tato'sya nadato bhūyo mayo dānavasattamaḥ | mukhe śarān mahāghorānnicakhāna mahāsuraḥ

Then, as he roared out once more, Maya, greatest of the Danavas, that great Asura, drove terrible arrows into his mouth.

Verse 16 (skanda.8.92.16)

तस्य तेन तदा व्यास मुखे भिन्नस्य दारुणः । उत्तस्थौ वायुवद् धूमः शरीरादञ्जनोपमः

tasya tena tadā vyāsa mukhe bhinnasya dāruṇaḥ | uttasthau vāyuvad dhūmaḥ śarīrādañjanopamaḥ

O Vyasa, from the body of him whose mouth was thus dreadfully pierced, smoke black as collyrium rose up then, swift as the wind.

Verse 17 (skanda.8.92.17)

तेन धूमेन खञ्चैव दिवं भूश्चैव सर्वशः । पूरिता महता व्यास न प्राज्ञायत किंचन

tena dhūmena khañcaiva divaṁ bhūścaiva sarvaśaḥ | pūritā mahatā vyāsa na prājñāyata kiṁcana

By that great smoke, O Vyasa, the sky, the heavens, and the earth were all filled everywhere, and nothing whatsoever could be discerned.

Verse 18 (skanda.8.92.18)

तेन शब्देन संज्ञाभिर्नामविश्रावणैरपि । करस्पर्शैस्तदान्योन्यमनयद्यमसादनम्

tena śabdena saṁjñābhirnāmaviśrāvaṇairapi | karasparśaistadānyonyamanayadyamasādanam

By that sound, by gestures, by the calling out of names, and by the touch of hands, they then unwittingly led one another to the abode of Yama.

Verse 19 (skanda.8.92.19)

न देवो ज्ञायते तत्र न दैत्यो दानवोऽपि वा । अजानन्तस्ततस्तत्र संस्थामेतां प्रचक्रिरे

na devo jñāyate tatra na daityo dānavo'pi vā | ajānantastatastatra saṁsthāmetāṁ pracakrire

There, neither god nor Daitya nor Danava could be told apart; and so, unable to know one another, they devised this arrangement there:

Verse 20 (skanda.8.92.20)

आटिं दैत्याः प्रकुर्वन्त बक इत्येव देवताः । बकं वदन्ति ये तत्र दैत्यास्तान् व्यघ्नँस्तदा

āṭiṁ daityāḥ prakurvanta baka ityeva devatāḥ | bakaṁ vadanti ye tatra daityāstān vyaghna~stadā

The Daityas would utter the word "Ati", and the gods only the word "Baka"; whoever there said "Baka", him the Daityas would then slay.

Verse 21 (skanda.8.92.21)

आटिं ब्रुवाणश्च सुराः इत्येवं तद् व्यवर्तत । एवंभूतमभूद्युद्धं वर्षाणां तु सहस्रकम् । महद्भयं वै दैत्यानामन्धकारे सुरैः सह

āṭiṁ bruvāṇaśca surāḥ ityevaṁ tad vyavartata | evaṁbhūtamabhūdyuddhaṁ varṣāṇāṁ tu sahasrakam | mahadbhayaṁ vai daityānāmandhakāre suraiḥ saha

And likewise, gods who by mistake uttered "Ati" were slain in turn - so it went on. In this way the battle continued thus for a full thousand years, and in that darkness great terror indeed seized the Daityas together with the gods.

Verse 22 (skanda.8.92.22)

तदन्धकारे सुमहाभयंकरं तदाभवद्युद्धमतीव दारुणम् । जगद्विनाशाय जगद्धितैषिणां सुरासुराणां रुधिरौघनिस्रवम्

tadandhakāre sumahābhayaṁkaraṁ tadābhavadyuddhamatīva dāruṇam | jagadvināśāya jagaddhitaiṣiṇāṁ surāsurāṇāṁ rudhiraughanisravam

In that darkness a most terrifying and utterly dreadful battle then took place - a very flood of blood of the gods and Asuras, well-wishers of the world though they were, streaming out toward the world's destruction.