Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/138

104 and polished swords and maces of terrible form, all befitting their respective bodies. And decked with celestial ornaments and resplendent with those bright arms, the gods waited there, their fears allayed. And the gods, of incomparable strength, energy, and splendour, resolved to protect the amrita, capable of splitting the towns of the Asuras, all displayed themselves in forms resplendent as the fire. Thus the gods having stood there, that [would be] battle-field, in consequence of hundred thousands of maces furnished with iron spikes, shone like another suddenly arrived sky illumined by the rays of the sun.

And so ends the thirteeth section in the Astika of the Adi Parva.

 

( Astika Parva continued. )

Saunaka said, "O Son of Suta, what was Indra's fault, what his act of carelessness? How was Gadura born in consequence of the ascetic penances of the Valakhilyas? Why also had Kasyapa—a Brahmana—the king of birds for his son? Why too was he invincible of all creatures and un-slayable of all? Why also was that ranger of the skies capable of going into every place at will and of mustering at will any measure of energy? If these are described in the Purana, I should like to hear them!"

Sauti said, "What thou askest me is, indeed, the subject of the Purana. O twice-born one, listen as I briefly recite it all!

"Once upon a time, when the Prajapati, Kasyapa, was engaged in a sacrifice from desire of offspring, the Rishis, the gods, and the Gandharvas, gave him help. And Indra was appointed by Kasyapa to bring the sacrificial wood; and with him those ascetics—the Valakhilyas, and all the other deities. And the lord Indra taking up according to his own strength a weight that was mountain-like, brought it without any fatigue. And he saw on the way some Rishis, of bodies of the measure of the thumb, together carrying one single stalk of the Palasha (Butea frondosa) leaf. And those Rishis were, from want of food, 