who is the four Vedas, who hath four forms and four faces, who is
invincible in consequence of his own energy and who is endued with mighty
strength and great prowess and as the Lord Hari of wondrous frame,
possessed of great lustre and decked with a crown and the Kaustubha gem
and attired in purple silk, lay stretched for many a yojana on that
excellent bed furnished by the hood of the snake itself extending far and
wide, blazing, O king, in his beauty and the lustre of his own body like
a thousand Suns concentrated in one mass. He was beheld some time after
by two Danavas of great prowess named Madhu and Kaitabha and beholding
Hari (in that posture) and the Grandsire with eyes like lotus-leaves
seated on that lotus, both Madhu and Kaitabha wandered much and they
began to terrify and alarm Brahma of immeasurable prowess, and the
illustrious Brahma alarmed by their continued exertions trembled on his
seat, and at his trembling the stalk of the lotus on which he was seated
began to tremble and when the lotus-stalk trembled, Kesava awoke. And
awakened from his slumber, Govinda beheld those Danavas of mighty energy,
and beholding them the Deity said unto them, 'Welcome, ye mighty ones! I
am gratified with you! Therefore, I will grant you excellent boons!' And
thereupon both those proud and mighty Danavas, O king, laughingly replied
unto Hrishikesa, saying, 'Ask boons of us, O Divine one! O thou that art
the Supreme Deity, we are disposed to grant thee a boon. Indeed, we will
grant thee a boon! Therefore, ask thou of us anything that cometh to thy
mind.' Thus addressed by them the holy one spoke, 'Ye brave ones, I will
accept a boon from you. There is a boon that I desire. Both of you are
possessed of mighty energy. There is no male person like unto any of you.
O ye of unbaffled prowess, submit ye to be slain by me. Even that is what
I desire to accomplish for the good of the world.' Hearing these words of
the Deity, both Madhu and Kaitabha said, 'We have never before spoken an
untruth; no, not even in jest; what shall we say of other occasions! O
thou foremost of male Beings, know that we have ever been firm in truth
and morality. In strength, in forms, in beauty, in virtue, in asceticism,
in charity, in behaviour, in goodness, in self control, there is no one
equal unto either of us. A great danger, O Kesava, hath approached us.
Accomplish thou, therefore, what thou hast said. No one can prevail over
Time. But, O Lord, there