Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/142

108 out wavering for a moment. And the son of Vinata, of great prowess, blazing in the sky, attacked the gods on all sides with his wings and breast. And blood began to flow copiously from the bodies of the gods mangled by the talons and the beak of Gadura. And overcome by the lord of birds, the Sadhyas with the Gandharvas fled eastwards, the Vasus with the Rudras towards the south, the Adityas towards the west, and the twin Aswinas towards the north. And gifted with great energy, they retreated fighting, looking back every moment on their enemy.

"And Gadura had encounters with (the Yakshas) Aswakranda of great courage, with Rainuka, with the bold Krathanaka, with Tapana, with Uluka and Shasanaka, with Nimisha, with Puruja, and with Pulina. And the son of Vinata mangled them with his wings, talons, and beak, like that oppressor of enemies—the holder of the Pinaka himself in anger at the end of the yuga. And those Yakhas of great might and courage, mangled all over by that ranger of the skies, looked like masses of black clouds dropping thick showers of blood.

"And Gadura depriving them of life then went to where the amrita was. And he saw that it was surrounded on all sides with fire. And the terrible flames of that fire covered the entire sky. And moved by violent winds, they seemed bent on burning the Sun himself. And the illustrious Gadura then assumed ninety times ninety (eight thousand and one hundred) mouths. And soon drinking in many rivers with those mouths and returning with great speed, that oppressor of enemies, having wings for his vehicle, extinguished that fire with those rivers. And extinguishing that fire, he assumed another small form, desirous of entering into (where the Soma was.)

And so ends the thirty-second Section in the Astika of the Adi Parva.