The despair of the three love-lorn deities was indescribable and each one of them tried his utmost to save Uttara from destruction.
Surya, violent and intense, tried with all the ardour of his torrid rays to vaporize her and carry her up to the heavens. But all his efforts were fruitless. Soma, heart-stricken and unnerved, could only sing to her a forlorn and disconsolate complaint, but he also sang in vain.
Indra attempted several stratagems with all the power of his daring passion and finally begged Uttara to confess whom she loved, as this confession only could save her from extinction. And Uttara spoke to him trembling with emotion, “O Indra, I love thee only; for thou alone art my love, my god! I do not wish to be saved and become mortal again, but if thou lovest me deeply, absorb me, take my body, my soul, all, for I am thine forever!”
And Indra reflected his beauty into hers, embraced her fondly, desperately, with all his might, and so powerful and intimate was the desire that the sacrificial water absorbed Indra’s image. When later Uttara’s father lifted the bowl to perform the rite he found in place of the sacrificial liquid a blue stone of the color of the sky in springtime, vivid and flawless, the Turquoise.
