And again and again wounded by beings of various sights
with (pieces of) flesh, fat, bones, and marrow on
their persons,—some having three heads,
and some four tusks, and some four mouths, and some
four arms,—the Danavas met with
destruction. And, then, O Bharata, in a moment
I slew all those Danavas, with other swarms
of arrows composed of the quintessence of stone, flaming
like fire or the sun, and possessed of the force of
the thunder-bolt. And, seeing them hewn by the
Gandiva, and deprived of life, and thrown from
the sky, I again bowed unto that god—the
Destroyer of Tripura. And, seeing those
adorned with unearthly ornaments, crushed by the weapon,
the Raudra, the charioteer of the celestials,
experienced the greatest delight. And having witnessed
the accomplishment of that unbearable feat incapable
of being achieved even by the celestials themselves,
Matali, the charioteer of Sakra, paid homage unto
me; and well-pleased, with joint hands said these words.
“The feat that hath been achieved by thee, is
incapable of being borne even by the gods, nay,—in
battle, the lord of the celestials himself cannot
perform this deed. The sky-coursing mighty city
incapable of being destroyed by the gods and the Asuras
hast thou, O hero, crushed by thy own prowess and
by the energy of asceticism.” And when that
aerial city had been destroyed, and when the Danavas
also had been slain, their wives, uttering cries of
distress, like unto Kurari birds, with hair dishevelled
came out of the city. And bewailing for their
sons and brothers and fathers, they fell on the ground
and cried with distressful accents. And on being
deprived for their lords, they beat their breasts,
their garlands and ornaments fallen off. And that
city of Danavas, in appearance like unto the
city of the Gandharvas filled with lamentations
and stricken with dole and distress, and bereft of
grace even like unto a lake deprived of (its) elephants,
or like unto a forest deprived of trees and (deprived
of its) masters, looked no longer beautiful—but
it vanished, like a cloud-constructed city. And
when I had accomplished the task, from the field Matali
took me of delighted spirits, unto the abode of the
lord of the celestials. And having slain those
mighty Asuras, and destroyed Hiranyapura, and
having also killed the Nivata-Kavachas, I came
unto Indra. And, O exceedingly resplendent one,
as it had fallen out, Matali related in detail unto
Devendra that entire achievement of mine. And
with the Marutas, hearing of the destruction of Hiranyapura,
of the neutralisation of the illusion, and of the
slaughter of the highly powerful Nivatakavachas in
fight, the prosperous thousand-eyed divine Purandara
was well pleased, and exclaimed, “Well done;
Well done!” And the king of the celestials together
with the celestials, cheering me again and again, said
these sweet words, “By thee hath been achieved
a feat incapable of being achieved by the gods and