Undaunted, the mighty one stood firm, blocking the whirling discus in his hand; it would not move, and there he remained, unmoving as a mountain crowned with its peak. Then, with tremendous force, the lord’s bow Śārṅga was shattered in three places, and by that very force, the lord’s head was severed at the tip of the bow. The severed head, driven by the wind and the power of Pinākin—the bringer of life—fell down into the netherworld. At that moment, the head entered his sacrificial fire, where the altar lay in ruins, the posts were broken, and the gateway had collapsed. The great sacrificial hall was ablaze, and even the personified sacrifice itself, frightened, fled in the form of a deer, leaping toward the sky. Vīrabhadra, fierce and unstoppable, seized the victim and made him headless. He then struck down Prajāpati Dharma and Kaśyapa, the revered teacher of the world. The mighty hero attacked Ariṣṭanemi, lord of many sons, the sage Aṅgiras, and Kṛṣṇāśva as well. He struck the renowned Dakṣa upon the head with his foot, severed his head, and the foremost of the twice-born burned it in the sacrificial fire. With the tip of his finger, Vīrabhadra, mighty as ever, cut off the tip of Sarasvatī’s nose, and also that of the mother of the gods. Resplendent, Vīrabhadra stood in the midst of the cremation ground, just as Bhava himself does. At that very moment, the blessed one born from the lotus—Brahmā—appeared. Glorious, he bowed and prayed, speaking words of peace: “Enough of anger, O Bhadra; even the gods have been destroyed. Be gracious—let all be forgiven, together with those born of hair, O steadfast one.” At these words, Bhadra, by the power of Brahmā, the supreme lord, became calm. Gradually, peace was restored. The Lord Vṛṣadhvaja, too, stood serenely in the sky, obeying the divine command. Śarva, the great Lord of all worlds, accompanied by his attendants, was earnestly entreated by Brahmā. Then, with compassion, he restored the bodies of those who had been slain, just as they were before—including the head of Indra and that of the great-souled Viṣṇu. The great Lord likewise restored to Dakṣa, the foremost sage, his head, and to others their former forms, and to Vāgīśī and the mother of the gods, the tips of their noses. He granted life anew to those who had perished, and bestowed various boons as well. To Dakṣa, whose face had been destroyed, the blessed Lord gave a new head. By his divine play, the great Bhava fashioned a face for Dakṣa, who, regaining consciousness, rose up with joined palms. He praised Śaṅkara, Lord of the gods, the Bull-bannered one. Thus praised, the mighty Lord granted various boons. He appointed Dakṣa, pure in action, as the lord of the Gaṇas, and all the gods praised the supreme Lord of gods. The blessed Nārāyaṇa, with joined palms, praised him, as did Brahmā and all the sages, each offering homage to the one born from the elephant. They extolled the Lord of gods, Nīlakaṇṭha, the Bull-bannered one. Having shown favor to the gods, Bhava then disappeared from their sight. Now, how did Satī, the auspicious daughter of Himavat, come to be, and how did she obtain the Lord of gods as her husband? By her own will, she assumed the body of Menā and was born as the daughter of Himavat, O best of the twice-born, through her own austerity. The Lord of the Mountain performed all the birth and other rites for her, and in her twelfth year, the auspicious daughter of Himavat— Practiced austerity, accompanied by her, her beautiful-faced younger sister, and another goddess, also a younger sister, honored by all the worlds. Then all the sages surrounded the goddess, the great Lady of all worlds, and praised her for her austerity from every side. The eldest was Aparṇā, the younger was Ekaparṇā, the beautiful-faced one; the third was Varārohā, also called Ekapāṭalā. By the austerity of the great goddess Pārvatī, the supreme Lord Mahādeva, Lord of all beings, was brought under her sway. At that very time, there was a demon named Tāraka, the mighty son of Tāra, a radiant offspring of Diti. He had three sons: Tārakākṣa, the great demon; Vidyunmālī, illustrious; and Kamalākṣa, mighty in strength. Their father Tāra, of immense power, gained his strength through austerity and the grace of Brahmā, the Lord. Tāra, radiant with great energy, conquered the three worlds, both moving and unmoving, and even defeated Viṣṇu in battle. Between them, a fierce and terrifying battle raged for a thousand divine years, day and night, without rest. Tāra hurled Viṣṇu along with his chariot a hundred yojanas away; vanquished in battle, the bearer of the Garuḍa banner fled. Having received a boon of strength a hundredfold from the Grandfather of all, Tāra gained dominion over the entire world, O son of Diti. Having defeated the gods led by Indra, the lord of the gods restrained them in all the worlds by his illusion. The deities, along with Indra, afflicted and terrified by Tāra, found neither peace nor refuge, overwhelmed by fear. Then, the glorious lord of the immortals, gathering with the chiefs of the immortals, spoke to Aṅgiras in the presence of the gods: “O revered one, Tāra, the son of Tāra, the foremost among demons, has confronted us in battle as a herdsman would his calves.