“In the mean time Travat, a mighty elephant, arose, now kept by the god of thunder; and as they continued to churn the ocean more than enough, that deadly poison issued from its bed, burning like a raging fire, whose dreadful fumes in a moment spread throughout the world, confounding the three regions of the universe with the mortal stench, until Seev, at the word of Brahma, swallowed the fatal drug, to save mankind; which, remaining in the throat of that sovereign Dew of magic form, from that time he hath been called Neel-Kant, because his throat was stained blue.
“When the Asoors beheld this miraculous deed, they became desperate, and the Amreeta and the goddess Sree became the source of endless hatred.
“Then Narayan assumed the character and person of Moheenee Maya, the power of enchantment, in a female form of wonderful beauty, and stood before the Asoors, whose minds being fascinated by her presence, and deprived of reason, they seized the Amreeta, and gave it unto her.
“The Asoors now clothe themselves in costly armour, and, seizing their various weapons, rush on together to attack the Soors. In the mean time Narayan, in the female form, having obtained the Amreeta from the hands of their leader, the hosts of Soors, during the tumult and confusion of the Asoors, drank of the living water.
“And it so fell out, that whilst the Soors were quenching their thirst for immortality, Rahoo, an Asoor, assumed the form of a Soor, and began to drink also: And the water had but reached his throat, when the Sun and Moon, in friendship to the Soors, discovered the deceit; and instantly Narayan cut off his head as he was drinking, with his splendid weapon Chakra. And the gigantic head of the Asoor, emblem of a mountain’s summit, being thus separated from his body by the Chakra’s edge, bounded into the heavens with a dreadful cry, whilst his ponderous trunk fell, cleaving the ground asunder, and shaking the whole earth unto its foundation, with all its islands, rocks, and forests: And from that time the head of Rahoo resolved an eternal enmity, and continueth, even unto this day, at times to seize upon the Sun and Moon.
“Now Narayan, having quitted the female figure he had assumed, began to disturb the Asoors with sundry celestial weapons: and from that instant a dreadful battle was commenced, on the ocean’s briny strand, between the Asoors and the Soors. Innumerable sharp and missile weapons were hurled, and thousands of piercing darts and battle-axes fell on all sides. The Asoors vomit blood from the wounds of the Chakra, and fall upon the ground pierced by the sword, the spear, and spiked club. Heads, glittering with polished gold, divided by the Pattees’ blade, drop incessantly; and mangled bodies, wallowing in their gore, lay like fragments of mighty rocks, sparkling with gems and precious ores. Millions of sighs and groans arise on every side; and the sun is overcast with blood, as they clash their arms, and wound each other with their dreadful instruments of destruction.
“Now the battle is fought with the iron-spiked club, and, as they close, with clenched fist; and the din of war ascendeth to the heavens. They cry ‘Pursue! strike! fell to the ground!’ so that a horrid and tumultuous noise is heard on all sides.
“In the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, Nar and Narayan entered the field together. Narayan, beholding a celestial bow in the hand of Nar, it reminded him of his Chakra, the destroyer of the Asoors. The faithful weapon, by name Soodarsan, ready at the mind’s call, flew down from heaven with direct and refulgent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold: And being arrived, glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around, Narayan, with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, hurled forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger and glorious ruin of hostile towns; who, raging like the final all-destroying fire, shot bounding with desolating force, killing thousands of the Asoors in his rapid flight, burning and involving, like the lambent flame, and cutting down all that would oppose him. Anon he climbeth the heavens, and now again darteth into the field like a Peesach, to feast in blood.
“Now the dauntless Asoors strive, with repeated strength, to crush the Soors with rocks and mountains, which, hurled in vast numbers into the heavens, appeared like scattered clouds, and fell, with all the trees thereon, in millions of fear-exciting torrents, striking violently against each other with a mighty noise; and in their fall the earth, with all its fields and forests, is driven from its foundation: they thunder furiously at each other as they roll along the field, and spend their strength in mutual conflict.
“Now Nar, seeing the Soors overwhelmed with fear, filled up the path to Heaven with showers of golden-headed arrows, and split the mountain summits with his unerring shafts; and the Asoors finding themselves again sore pressed by the Soors, precipitately flee; some rush headlong into the briny waters of the ocean, and others hide themselves within the bowels of the earth.