nered
car also, which were obtained from king Soma. Partha will achieve a great
task with Gandiva, and Vasudeva also with the discus! Give both,
therefore, unto me today.' Hearing these words, Varuna replied unto
Pavaka, saying, 'Well, I am giving them.' He then gave that wonderful
jewel of a bow that was endued with great energy. That bow was the
enhancer of fame and achievements, and was incapable of being injured by
any weapon. It was the chief of all weapons, and the grinder of them all.
And it was the smiter of hostile armies and was alone equal to a hundred
thousand bows. It was the multiplier of kingdoms, and was variegated with
excellent colours. It was well-adorned, and beautiful to behold, and
without a mark of weakness or injury anywhere. And it was always
worshipped both by the celestials and the Gandharvas. Varuna also gave
two inexhaustible quivers, and he also gave a car furnished with
celestial weapons and whose banner bore a large ape. Yoked unto that car
were steeds white as silver of the fleecy clouds, and born in the region
of the Gandharvas, and decked with golden harness, and resembling in
fleetness the wind or the mind. And it was equipped with implement of
war, and was incapable of being vanquished by the celestials or the
Asuras. Its splendour was great and the sounds of its wheels was
tremendous. It delighted the heart of every creature that looked at it.
It had been made by Viswakarman, the architect of the universe and one of
the lords of creation, after severe ascetic meditation. Its splendour,
like that of the sun, was so great that no one could gaze at it. It was
the very car from which the lord Soma had vanquished the Danavas.
Resplendent with beauty, it looked like an evening cloud reflecting the
effulgence of the setting sun. It was furnished with an excellent
flag-staff of golden colour and great beauty. And there sat upon that
flag-staff a celestial ape of form fierce like that of a lion or a tiger.
Stationed on high, the ape seemed bent upon burning everything it beheld.
And upon the (other) flags were various creatures of large size, whose
roars and yells caused the enemy's soldiers to faint. Then Arjuna,
accoutred in mail and armed with the sword, and his fingers cased in
leathern gloves, walking round that excellent car adorned with numerous
flags and bowing unto the gods, ascended it like a virtuous man riding in
the celestial car that bears him to heaven. And taking up that celest