Burning of Tripura

Sanatkumara said

So Mahadeva Shambhu stood on the chariot, fitted out in every way, ready to burn everything in Tripura and the gods' enemies. On an elevated spot he fitted the excellent arrow to the bow and took the wonderful pratyalidha stance, hands firm, eyes fixed. He stayed motionless in that posture for a hundred thousand years, with Ganesha stationed on his thumb. All that time Tripura and the daityas did not come into the sight of the trident-wielder. Munjakesha Virupaksha Hara stood there with bow and arrow. Then a lovely voice came from the sky: "Bhagavan, lord of the universe, until Vinayaka is worshipped you will not be able to destroy Tripura." Hearing it, the slayer of Andhaka called Bhadrakali and worshipped the elephant-faced one. Having worshipped Vinayaka he was happy and content. Before him Bhagavan Hara saw Tripura in the sky, inhabited by the great-souled daityas, Taraka's sons, who had come together as they were meant to. Maheshvara, lord of the gods, is the paramatman, worshipped by all, and does not succeed in any task by another's favour. He rules himself and is the supreme brahman, with and without qualities, lord of all though not discerned, the unsullied paramatman whose atman lies in the five divinities and who is worshipped by them. He is the supreme lord, and no one deserves his worship; he is himself the refuge who is worshipped. Sage, so everything happened by his play. Such is the conduct of Mahesha, lord of the gods and giver of boons, and that is why Mahadeva worshipped Ganadhipa.

At that moment the three cities quickly joined. Sage, the three became like one. There was tumultuous rejoicing among the great-souled gods and others. All the gods, ganas, siddhas and supreme rishis cried "Victory" and praised the eight-formed one. Brahma and Vishnu, lord of the universe, said: "Maheshvara, the time has come to slay the daityas, Taraka's sons in Tripura. Lord, do the gods' task; they have joined. Lord of the gods, do it before the cities part again. Release the arrow and reduce Tripura to ashes." Sharva drew the bowstring back and fitted the arrow, the revered pashupata weapon, and thought of Tripura. Divine Mahadeva is supremely skilled in play, and for some reason he glanced at it with contempt. In an instant Virupaksha could have reduced Tripura to ashes, but Paramesha, goal of the virtuous, waited for the right moment. With a glance the lord of the gods can burn the three worlds. "To spread our fame, release the arrow now," Vishnu, Brahma and everyone praised him. Maheshvara wished to burn Tripura with that arrow. In the muhurta called abhila he drew back the wonderful bow. The string slapped against his palms with a roar impossible to bear. He addressed the great asuras and let them hear his own name. He loosed the fierce arrow, bright as a crore suns, swift and pervaded by Vishnu, blazing hard, with Vahni on its tip. It burned Tripura and the daityas in the three cities, destroying their impurities. Joined together, the three cities were burned and reduced to ashes, and burnt, they fell to earth, girdled by the four oceans. Hundreds of daityas were burned by the fire in the arrow, crying out loudly in lament; after all, they had strayed from the worship of Shiva. With his brothers Tarakaksha was burned. He remembered his own lord and divinity Shankara, kind to his devotees, and, full of great devotion, lamented in many words, glancing in his mind toward Mahadeva.

Tarakaksha said

Bhava, you know that you were pleased with me and my relatives; it is true. You have burned us. But to be burned at your hands is hard to get even for gods and asuras. That being so, in every birth let our intelligence and feelings be devoted to you.

Sanatkumara said

Sage, as they said this, at Shiva's command Vahni burned the danavas to ashes. Other danavas, children and aged, were also swiftly burned and reduced to ashes at Shiva's command, Vyasa. Like the world at a kalpa's end, the fire burned everyone, men, women and animals there. Some fine women let go of their husbands' necks and were burned; some were asleep and inattentive, some worn out from lovemaking, and some were partly burned, confused and senseless. Not even the subtlest thing, moving or still, in Tripura escaped the terrible fire. Only Maya, the undecaying Vishvakarma of the daityas, was left. Those who had not opposed the gods were saved by Shambhu's energy. In calamity the virtuous devotee takes refuge in Mahesha. Daityas and others who in thought and deed had put up no obstacles were not destroyed. So the virtuous should avoid deeds condemned in the worlds, which lead to decay; there should be no repeat of the situation of Tripura's residents. This is everyone's view, though destiny is always there. By the strength of worshipping Shiva, the daityas and all their relatives who worshipped Rudra became Ganapatis.