e fire or the
sun, and possessed of the force of the thunder-bolt. And, seeing them
hewn by the Gandiva, and deprived of life, and thrown from the sky, I
again bowed unto that god--the Destroyer of Tripura. And, seeing those
adorned with unearthly ornaments, crushed by the weapon, the Raudra, the
charioteer of the celestials, experienced the greatest delight. And
having witnessed the accomplishment of that unbearable feat incapable of
being achieved even by the celestials themselves, Matali, the charioteer
of Sakra, paid homage unto me; and well-pleased, with joint hands said
these words. 'The feat that hath been achieved by thee, is incapable of
being borne even by the gods, nay,--in battle, the lord of the celestials
himself cannot perform this deed. The sky-coursing mighty city incapable
of being destroyed by the gods and the Asuras hast thou, O hero, crushed
by thy own prowess and by the energy of asceticism. And when that aerial
city had been destroyed, and when the Danavas also had been slain, their
wives, uttering cries of distress, like unto Kurari birds, with hair
dishevelled came out of the city. And bewailing for their sons and
brothers and fathers, they fell on the ground and cried with distressful
accents. And on being deprived for their lords, they beat their breasts,
their garlands and ornaments fallen off. And that city of Danavas, in
appearance like unto the city of the Gandharvas filled with lamentations
and stricken with dole and distress, and bereft of grace even like unto a
lake deprived of (its) elephants, or like unto a forest deprived of trees
and (deprived of its) masters, looked no longer beautiful--but it
vanished, like a cloud-constructed city. And when I had accomplished the
task, eftsoons from the field Matali took me of delighted spirits, unto
the abode of the lord of the celestials. And having slain those mighty
Asuras, and destroyed Hiranyapura, and having also killed the
Nivata-Kavachas, I came unto Indra. And, O exceedingly resplendent one,
as it had fallen out, Matali related in detail unto Devendra that entire
achievement of mine. And with the Marutas, hearing of the destruction of
Hiranyapura, of the neutralisation of the illusion, and of the slaughter
of the highly powerful Nivatakavachas in fight, the prosperous
thousand-eyed divine Purandara was well pleased, and exclaimed, 'Well
done; Well done!' And the king of the celestials together with the
celestials, cheering me again and ag