As the great battle approached, Gaṇeśa, the remover of obstacles, took action to hinder both the lords of demons and the gods themselves, ensuring only the worthy would proceed. With his hosts of obstacle-removers, he made his way to the region of Īśāna, preparing the path for the divine forces. At that time, Kālī appeared, fierce and resplendent, wielding a trident that shone like the darkness of night. Her hand was adorned with skulls, and she shook her weapon, intoxicated by the blood of mighty demons and gods she had consumed. She moved with the wild energy of a mad elephant, her eyes rolling in intoxication, surrounded by ghosts and hosts equally intoxicated. Her limbs were wrapped in elephant hide, and she strode ahead of the lord of hosts, leading the charge. All around, Siddhas, Gandharvas, Piśācas, Yakṣas, Vidyādharas, serpent-kings, and the foremost gods bowed down and loudly praised the goddess, daughter of the snowy mountain, with cries of victory. The mothers, destroyers of the enemies of the gods, honored by the divine hosts, approached the chariot, each accompanied by their own vehicles, banners, and retinues. Durgā herself, mounted upon the lord of beasts, radiated an aura that was difficult to approach. She bore many powerful arms, holding a goad, trident, noose, axe, discus, sword, and conch weapon. Her eyes blazed like a thousand suns, burning the path before her. Though youthful, she was mighty, and she went forth to strike the demons. Then, to slay the god Tripura, the chief lords of hosts, shining like Indra and the sun, advanced with elephants, horses, mighty lions, chariots, and bulls. Armed with ploughs, blades, pestles, clubs, and mountain peaks—appearing themselves as mountains—the lords of gods and hosts marched ahead of Maheśvara. Indra, the lotus-born Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and other gods and leaders of hosts addressed the blessed lord with words of victory, offering salutations from all directions, their crowns bowed in reverence. The sages danced, holding staffs and wearing matted hair; the Siddhas and Cāraṇas moved through the sky, showering flowers, while the best of Brāhmins gave life to the triple city from all sides. Surrounded by the lords of hosts and divine hosts, together with Bhṛṅgī, the supreme lord of all hosts, the yogi ascended his celestial vehicle like Mahendra, intent on destroying Tripura. Among those assembled were Keśa, unclothed; Mahākeśa; Mahājvara; Somavallī; Savarṇa; Somapa; and Senaka. There were also Somadhṛk, Sūryavāca, Sūryapeṣaṇaka, Sūryākṣa, Sūrināmā, and the beautiful god Sundara. Prakuda, Kakudanta, Kampana, Prakampana, Indra, Indrajaya, Mahābhīr, and Bhīmaka joined as well. Mighty beings appeared: one with a hundred eyes, another with five, another with a thousand; one with a great belly, another with the tongue of Yama, one with a hundred horses, one with a neck, and one worshipped at the neck. There were the two-crested, three-crested, and five-crested ones; the shaven-headed, half-shaven, the tall one, the one with a ghoul’s mouth, and the bearer of the Pināka bow. One dwelled under the pippala tree, another ate embers, one was loose, one had a slack mouth, one had eyes on his feet, one was unborn, another Mars-like. There were those with goat’s faces, horse’s faces, elephant’s faces, and upward-facing forms—such a multitude, surrounding the Lord, devoid of ordinary marks and characteristics. Thousands upon thousands of Rudras, full of upward energy, encircled the great god, the god of gods, the supreme lord, ready to burn the three cities. The thirty-three gods, three times a hundred, and three times a thousand gods came from all sides. The mothers of all worlds, mothers of hosts, and mothers of beings followed behind the god. In the midst of these hosts, the Lord of Hosts shone at the center of the chariot, like the moon among stars in the spotless sky. At his side stood the goddess Girijā, radiant in her power, Gaurī, the all-pervading one, like Bhava’s own energy. She held a yak-tail fan, golden as a lotus, and shone forth auspiciously. The mighty one, Śiva, his form brightened by ashes, stood with Ambikā beside him, like a white cloud in the sky with lightning. His gentle form shone like the sky with a rainbow, as the world does with Meru. He radiated like the moon, bearing a golden bow. Above him, the white parasol mingled with rays of jewels, shining like the unbroken disk of the moon at its rising. A red garland with fine cloth hung from Śiva, ending at the parasol, as if the sacred river flowed from a jeweled peak. Indra, Brahmā, Agni, and others bowed at the lotus feet of Śiva, who, together with Ambikā, went for the good of all worlds to the three cities. Śiva, who wields the trident, is able to burn all that moves and does not move in a moment and by thought alone; what need is there for him to burn Tripura himself, the Pinākī, who went there with his hosts? What need is there for a chariot, the best of arrows, his hosts, or the hosts of gods, for Śambhu to burn the three cities? The chief gods, beginning with Indra, wondered, “What is this, if his power is not lost?” Indeed, they thought, the blessed Lord Pinākin had undertaken all this merely as a divine sport; what other purpose could there be in such display? Near the three cities, the Lord of gods shone, surrounded by Nandi and his hosts, Gaṇeśa and his gaṇas, and the goddess, appearing like Meru with its eight peaks, as the chariot of the world. Seeing the Lord of gods, the Lord, together with his hosts and Pārvatī, the hosts of gods themselves approached and stood upon the field of Tripura. There, the triple city shone like another universe, filled with kings, hosts, gods, other divine beings, and the threefold great sages. Śarva strung his bow and set the arrow, empowering it with the Pāśupata missile, and contemplated Tripura. As the great god Rudra stood with his mighty bow drawn, at that very moment, the cities swiftly merged into one. A tumultuous joy arose among the great-souled gods. All the hosts of gods, the Siddhas, and the supreme seers, praising the eight-formed Lord, uttered cries of “Victory!