Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/141

 ( Astika Parva continued. )

Sauti said, "O thou foremost of Brahmanas, upon the gods having stood prepared for war in that way, Gadura the king of birds soon came upon those wise ones. And the gods beholding him of excessive strength began to quake with fear, and strike one another with all their weapons. And amongst those that guarded the Shoma was Bhaumana (the celestial architect), of measureless might, effulgent as the electric fire, and of great energy. And after a terrific encounter of only a moment, mangled by the lord of birds with his talons, beak, and wings, he lay as dead on the field. And that ranger of the skies darkening the worlds by the dust raised by the hurricane of his wings, overwhelmed the celestials with it. And the celestials overwhelmed by that dust swooned away. And lo, the immortals who guarded the amrita, blinded by that dust, could not see Gadura! And Gadura thus agitated the region of the heavens. And he mangled the gods thus with the wounds inflicted by his wings and beaks.

"And then the god of thousand eyes commanded Vayu (the god of wind), saying, 'dispell thou this shower of dust soon. O Maruta, this is, indeed, thy work!' And then the mighty Vayu soon dispelled that dust. And when the darkness had disappeared, the celestials attacked Gadura. And as he of great might was attacked by the gods, he began to roar loudly, like the great cloud that appeareth in the sky at the end of the Yuga, frightening every creature. And that king of birds of great energy and slayer of hostile heroes, then rose on his wings. And him staying in the skies over the heads of the gods, all the wise ones (the celestials) with Indra amongst them covered with double-edged broad-swords, iron-maces furnished with sharp spikes, pointed lances, maces, bright kshurapras, and many a discus of the form of the sun. And the king of birds, attacked on all sides with showers of various weapons, fought exceeding hard with-