The Battle in General

Brahma said

Son, I have now described the armies of the gods and the danavas. Narada, now hear how great that tumultuous battle was, and how it brought destruction to gods and danavas alike. Taraka struck Indra of the gods with a fine javelin. Indra lost his senses and fell from his elephant to the ground, and the wielder of the vajra was seized by a great faintness. In the same way, son, all the guardians of the worlds were beaten in the battle by the asuras, who were stronger and highly skilled in fighting. The other gods, fighting the daityas, were also defeated; unable to bear their energy, they fled. Their attempts crowned with success, the asuras were victorious and roared like lions, shouting with joy.

At that point Virabhadra reached the spot in a rage, with his brave ganas, and advanced against Taraka, who prided himself on his courage. The powerful one, born of Shiva's anger, kept the immortals behind him; the leader of the ganas wanted to fight and put himself in front. All the pramathas and daityas treated it as a great festival, and addicted to the clash, they fought each other. Skilled in combat, in that great battle they killed each other with tridents, double-edged swords, nooses, swords, battle axes and spikes. Virabhadra struck Taraka hard with his trident, and he fell violently to the ground and for a while lost his senses; but brave Taraka, supreme among daityas, soon recovered and stood up. With force he hit Virabhadra with a spear, and brave, energetic Virabhadra swiftly hit Taraka back with his fierce sharp trident, while Taraka struck Virabhadra again with a spear. Taraka, lord of Diti's sons, was powerful and honoured as a hero. So the two of them fought and struck at each other, skilled in the knowledge of fighting and using many kinds of weapons. Their duel was great, and everyone watched it; it was tumultuous and made the hair stand on end. Bheris, mridangas, patahas, anakas and gomukhas were sounded by valiant warriors, and the sound could be heard, frightening. Though armoured, those two furious fighters were mangled by the blows, looking like Budha and Angaraka. Watching the clash, you, loved by Shiva, went to Virabhadra and spoke.

Narada said

Virabhadra, immensely valiant, supreme among the leaders of ganas, withdraw from the battle. We do not like the idea of your killing him.

Brahma said

Hearing this, Virabhadra, supreme among ganas, was enraged but folded his hands and replied.

Virabhadra said

Noble and wise sage, hear my great words. I will kill Taraka. Watch my valour now. Brave men who bring their masters onto the battlefield are sinners and eunuchs; having gone to fight, they are ruined and doubtless reach a bad end in hell. Know that you should never speak of Virabhadra in this way. Even when their bodies are mangled by astras and shastras, those who go on fighting are praised in this world and the next and win wonderful happiness. Let the gods, with Hari in front, hear my words: without my lord, today, I will rid the earth of Taraka.

Brahma said

Saying this, Virabhadra thought of Shambhu in his mind. Trident in hand and with the pramathas, he fought Taraka. Many rode bulls and wielded excellent tridents. Three-eyed and immensely valiant, he shone on the battlefield. Hundreds of fearless ganas raised a great tumult. With Virabhadra at their head they fought the danavas. Asuras who owed their lives to Tarakasura also fought, immensely valiant and drunk on their prowess, angrily crushing the ganas. Again and again there were great clashes between the best daityas and the ganas. In the end the ganas, skilled in supreme weapons, were victorious and jubilant. The powerful ganas triumphed and the asuras left the field, distressed and thinking only of flight. Seeing his own army destroyed, Tarakasura was filled with rage. He advanced to slay the gods and ganas, took on ten thousand hands and mounted a swift lion, and in the battle brought down gods and ganas. Seeing his deeds, Virabhadra, foremost of ganas, was filled with great rage. The immensely strong one remembered Shiva's lotus feet and seized an excellent trident to kill him, his energy blazing through all directions and the sky.

Meanwhile his master stopped the clash, wishing to show a great wonder, and held back Virabahu and the others. At his command Virabhadra withdrew. Immensely brave Taraka, leader of the asuras, was still full of anger and showered arrows on the gods. Skilled in many weapons, he scorched the gods in an instant. So Taraka, protector of the asuras, performed great deeds, and none of the gods could face that strongest of the strong. Achyuta saw the gods being killed and shaken with fear. Angry, he quickly armoured himself and went to the battle, taking Sudarshana chakra, the Sharnga bow and weapons. In the battle Bhagavan Hari advanced against the great daitya. There was a great clash between Hari and Achyuta, fierce enough to raise the hair, and everyone watched. Hari raised a mace and struck the asura with force, but the immensely strong daitya cut it in two with a trident. Bhagavan, who saves the gods from fear, grew angry and pierced the leader of the asuras with arrows fitted to the Sharnga bow, but Taraka, slayer of enemy heroes, was very valiant and quickly cut all those arrows down with his own sharp ones. Tarakasura then quickly struck Murari with a javelin, and from the blow Hari fell senseless. In a short while Achyuta rose and took up his blazing chakra. Roaring like a lion, he struck the lord of the daityas with it. Distressed by the great blow, Taraka fell to the ground, but Indra among daityas and leader of asuras got up again and with his own javelin swiftly cut the chakra. With that great javelin he struck Achyuta, loved by the immortals, again, and the immensely valiant one struck him back with Nandaka. So powerful Vishnu and the asura fought again on the battlefield, sage, their strength undiminished.