23) THE WAR BETWEEN THE GODS AND THE DEMONS

Fortified with Brahma‘s boon, Taraka started to rule the demons. After some years had passed and after Taraka had raised a strong army, he decided to attack heaven. A huge army of demons was accordingly raised. There were thousands of elephants, horses and chariots in the army. Apart from Taraka, the major generals in the army were Jambha, Kujambha, Mahisha, Kunjara, Megha, Kalanemi, Nimi, Mathana, Jambhaka, and Shumbha. Diverse were the weapons that the demons armed themselves with. The gods also prepared themselves for the war, having first appointed Yama as their general. Yama rode into battle on a bufflao. Indra had his chariot, driven by his charioteer Matali. The fire-god Agni rode on a goat and Varuna, the lord of the oceans, rode a snake. Amongst the other gods who were in the army were Chandra, Surya and Kubera, the god of prosperity and wealth. The war was terrible to behold. The trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses and the beating of drums made a terrible racket Above all this there was the noise of weapons clanging and bows twanging. Chariots fought with Chariots, elephants with elephants, horses with horses and foot-soldiers with foot-soldiers. The sky was thick with spears, maces, axes, swords, tridents, clubs and arrows flying around. Dead bodies littered the battlefield and rivers of blood began to flow. Yama fought a fierce duel with a demon named Grasana and Kubera fought with Jambha. Kujambha also fought with Kubera and put Kubera to flight. Kalanemi fought with both Chandra and Surya. The two Ashvinis received a sound thrashing at Kalanemi‘s hands. The news that the gods were being slaughtered reached Vishnu and Vishnu joined the fight.

The demons immediately attacked Vishnu, but were no match for him. One of Vishnu‘s maces knocked Kalanemi unconscious. Vishnu‘s cakra sliced off Grasana‘s head. Jambha did manage to knock Vishnu unconscious with a club. But Indra slew Jambha with a divine weapon. The trouble however was with Taraka. When he came to fight, the gods had no option but to flee. Those who did not, were captured and imprisoned. The demon won a resounding victory.

Leave a Reply