Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/535

 his banners the sky, which he clove with the thunderous roar of his host, and so he seemed to be fulfilling the wish* of the inhabitants of heaven. And Indra, for his part, knowing that ho had returned from winning a boon, was troubled, but after taking counsel with the adviser of the gods.† he summoned his forces.

Then Vidyuddhvaja arrived, and there took place between those two armies a great battle, in which it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. Those Daityas, who were headed by Subdhu, fought with the wind-gods, and Pingaksha and his followers with the gods of wealth, and Mahámáya and his forces with the gods of fire, and Ayahkáya and his hosts with the sun-gods, and Akampana and his warriors with the Siddhas; some other Daityas fought with the Vidyádharas, and the rest with the Gandharvas and their allies. So a great battle continued between them for twenty days, and on the twenty-first day the gods were routed in fight by the Asuras.

And when routed, they fled, and entered heaven : and then Indra himself issued, mounted on Airavana. And the forces of the gods rallied round him, and marched out again, with the leaders of the Vidyádharas, headed by Chandraketu. Then a desperate fight took place, and Asuras and gods ‡ were being slain in great numbers, when Vidyuddhvaja attacked Indra, to revenge the slaughter of his father. The king of the gods cleft over and over again the bow of that chief of the Asuras, who kept repelling his shafts with answering shafts. Then Vidyuddhvaja, elated with the boon of Śiva, seized his mace, and rushed furiously on Indra. He leapt up, planting his feet on the tusks of Airavana, and climbed up on his forehead, and killed his driver. And he gave the king of the gods a blow with his mace, and he quickly returned it with a similar weapon. But when Vidyuddhvaja struck him a second time with his mace, Indra fell senseless on to the chariot of the Wind-god. And the Wind-god carried him away in his chariot out of the fight with the speed of thought; and Vidyuddhvaja, who sprang after him, § fell on the ground.

At that moment a voice came from the air, " This is an evil day, so carry Indra quickly out of the fight." Then the Wind-god carried off Indra at the utmost speed of his chariot, and Vidyuddhvaja pursued them,