Chapter 170

“Arjuna said, ‘Then with rocks of the proportions of trees, therecommenced a mighty shower of crags; and this exercised me exceedingly.And in that high encounter, I crushed (those crags) by swift-speedingshowers of arrows, issuing from Mahendra’s weapon, like unto thethunder-bolt itself. And when the rocks had been reduced to powder, therewas generated fire; and the rocky dust fell like unto masses of flames.And when the showers of crags had been repelled, there happened near me amightier shower of water, having currents of the proportions of an axle.And falling from the welkin, those thousands of powerful torrents coveredthe entire firmament and the directions and the cardinal points. And onaccount of the pouring of the shower, and of the blowing of the wind, andof roaring of the Daityas, nothing could be perceived. And touchingheaven and the entire earth, and incessantly falling on the ground, theshowers bewildered me. Thereupon, I discharged that celestial weaponwhich I had learnt from Indra–even the dreadful and flaming Visoshana:and by that the water was dried up. And, O Bharata, when the rocky showerhad been destroyed, and the watery shower had been dried up, the Danavasbegan to spread illusions of fire and wind. Then by aqueous appliances Iextinguished the flames; and by a mighty rock-issuing arm, resisted thefury of the winds. And when these had been repelled, the Danavas,irrepressible in battle, O foremost of the Bharata, simultaneouslycreated various illusions. And there happened a tremendous horrifyingshower of rocks and dreadful weapons of fire and wind. And that illusorydownpour afflicted me in fight. And then on all sides there appeared adense and thick darkness. And when the world had been enveloped in deepand dense darkness, the steeds turned away, Matali fell off, and from hishand the golden lash fell to the earth. And, O foremost of the Bharatas,being frightened, he again and again cried, ‘Where art thou?’ And when hehad been stupefied, a terrible fear possessed me. And then in a hurry, hespake unto me, saying, ‘O Partha, for the sake of nectar, there had takenplace a mighty conflict between the gods and the demons. I had seen that(encounter), O sinless one. And on the occasion of the destruction ofSamvara, there had occurred a dreadful and mighty contest. Nevertheless Ihad acted as charioteer to the lord of the celestials. In the same way,on the occasion of the slaying of Vritra, the steeds had been conductedby me. And I had also beheld the high and terrific encounter withVirochana’s son, and, O Pandava, with Vala, and with Prahrada and withothers also. In these exceedingly dreadful battles, I was present; but, OPandu’s son, never (before) had I lost my senses. Surely the Great-fatherhath ordained the destruction of all creatures; for this battle cannot befor any other purpose than destruction of the universe.’ Having heardthese words of his, pacifying my perturbation by my own effort, I willdestroy the mighty energy of the illusion spread by the Danavas quoth Iunto the terrified Matali. Behold the might of my arms, and the power ofmy weapons and of the bow, Gandiva. To-day even by (the help of)illusion-creating arms, will I dispel this deep gloom and also thishorrible illusion of theirs. Do not fear, O charioteer. Pacify thyself.’Having said this, O lord of men, I created for the good of thecelestials, an illusion of arms capable of bewildering all beings. Andwhen (their) illusion had been dispelled, some of the foremost amongstthe Asuras, of unrivalled prowess, again spread diverse kinds ofillusion. Thereupon, now (the world) displayed itself, and now it wasdevoured by darkness; and now the world disappeared from view and now itwas submerged under water. And when it had brightened up. Matali, sittingin front of the car, with the wellconducted steeds, began to range thathair-erecting field. Then the fierce Nivata-Kavachas assailed me. Andfinding my opportunity. I began to send them to the mansion of Yama.Thereupon, in that conflict then raging, calculated to annihilate theNivata-Kavachas on a sudden, I could not see the Danavas concealed byillusion.”