ved to recover the Vedas
(from the Daityas that had forcibly snatched them away). Applying his
Yoga-puissance, he assumed a second form. His body, equipt with an
excellent nose, became as bright as the Moon. He assumed an equine head
of great effulgence, which was the abode of the Vedas. The firmament,
with all its luminaries and constellations, became the crown of his head.
His locks of hair were long and flowing, and had the splendour of the
rays of the Sun. The regions above and below became his two ears. The
Earth became his forehead. The two rivers Ganga and Saraswati became his
two hips. The two oceans became his two eye-brows. The Sun and the Moon
became his two eyes. The twilight became his nose. The syllable Om became
his memory and intelligence. The lightning became his tongue. The
Soma-drinking Pitris became, it is said, his teeth. The two regions of
felicity, viz., Goloka and Brahmaloka, became his upper and lower lips.
The terrible night that succeeds universal destruction, and that
transcends the three attributes, became his neck. Having assumed this
form endued with the equine head and having diverse things for its
diverse limbs, the Lord of the universe disappeared then and there, and
proceeded to the nether regions. Having reached those regions, he set
himself to high Yoga. Adopting a voice regulated by the rules of the
science called Siksha, he began to utter loudly Vedic Mantras. His
pronunciation was distinct and reverberated through the air, and was
sweet in every respect. The sound of his voice filled the nether region
from end to end. Endued with the properties of all the elements, it was
productive of great benefits. The two Asuras, making an appointment with
the Vedas in respect of the time when they would come back to take them
up again, threw them down in the nether region, and ran towards the spot
whence those sounds appeared to come. Meanwhile, O king, the Supreme Lord
with the equine head, otherwise called Hari, who was himself in the
nether region, took up all the Vedas. Returning to where Brahma was
staying, he gave the Vedas unto him. Having restored the Vedas unto
Brahma, the Supreme Lord once more returned to his own nature. The
Supreme Lord also established his form with the equine head in the
North-Eastern region of the great ocean. Having (in this way) established
him who was the abode of the Vedas, he once more became the equine-headed
form that he was.[1896] The two Danavas Madhu an