Clad in golden-yellow upper garments, the celestial hosts assembled, their chariots, armor, and weapons adorned in dazzling variety. Their crests gleamed high above, banners of beryl and makara-emblems fluttering proudly. Opposite them stood the Rakshasas, formidable and fierce, their upper robes crimson, hair blood-red, and vulture banners waving. They were adorned with pure ornaments and radiated great valor. Amidst the tumult, the great serpents roared like thunderclouds, wielding pestles, swords, and maces. Turbans crowned their chariots, and they hurled blazing meteors and lightning into the fray. The Yakshas, draped in black, grasped mighty bows and arrows, their copper-owl banners and golden-jeweled ornaments shining fiercely. Night-wanderers, clad in tiger-skin garments, bore mostly vulture-feather banners and bone ornaments. The Kinnaras, dressed in white, carried banners of white feathers and armed themselves with dreadful pestles, their roars echoing with the cries of many creatures. Some rode intoxicated elephants, brandished fierce spears, and were adorned with strings of pearls; a silver-crafted swan completed their regalia. The lord of waters bore a terrifying smoky banner of fire, while Kubera’s standard was a bough adorned with lotus-gems and great jewels. A raised banner, as if wishing to ascend the sky, marked Yama’s presence—a great standard of wood and iron, fashioned by a wolf. On the Rakshasa lord’s banner appeared the face of a ghost, and the gods bore golden lion banners, radiant as the moon and sun. The Ashvins’ banner was a jeweled pitcher, crafted with golden elephant motifs and precious gems. Shatakratu’s standard was decorated with white yak tails, attended by Nagas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, and many others—serpents and night-dwellers among them. The army of the king of gods was unconquerable in the three worlds, its divisions numbering thirty-three crores of divine hosts. The army shone with white yak tails like Himalayan peaks, pure golden lotus garlands, bright saffron marks, and cheeks adorned with playful curls. Indra himself stood upon Airavata, his mighty elephant, clad in wondrous ornaments and garments, adorned with vast cloths and armlets, and praised by thousands of bards—he shone resplendently in heaven. The vast army, crowded with horses and elephants, bore rows of white parasols and banners. Unconquerable, it glimmered with a dazzling array of weapons, difficult to overcome in battle. Then, the exceedingly fierce clash between gods and demons erupted—a tumultuous and immense battle. The air thundered with the roars of gods and demons, the blaring of conches and drums, the crash of instruments, and the trumpeting of elephants. Horses neighed, chariot wheels rumbled, bowstrings twanged, and the tumult of heroes rose to a terrible din. As the armies collided, each side, filled with wrath and ready to sacrifice their lives, sought victory over the other. They fought in many ways: horses attacked chariots, chariots struck foot soldiers, elephants joined with foot soldiers, charioteers battled one another, and elsewhere, elephants clashed with many horses. Sometimes a single foot soldier faced many intoxicated elephants. Weapons of every kind filled the field—spears, maces, clubs, axes, swords, lances, spikes, hammers, maces, wheels, stakes, and white goads. Arrows of every shape flew: tipped with ears, reeds, narachas, calf teeth, half-moons, broad blades, hundred-petaled points, and pure parrot-beak heads. A rain of astonishing missiles darkened the sky, covering all directions and shrouding the field in gloom. In the tumultuous darkness, warriors could not recognize friend from foe; unseen, they unleashed furious barrages of missiles. They gazed at the ground between the armies, strewn with standards, arms, parasols, and heads adorned with earrings. The earth was covered with fallen elephants, horses, foot soldiers—like a lake whose lotuses had dropped from the sky. Elephants with broken tusks, shattered domes, and severed trunks fell to the ground, streaming blood like rocks cast down. Chariots with broken yokes, axles, and wheels were smashed to fragments, and horses by the thousands fell and were reduced to pieces. The earth became impassable, flowing with streams of blood. Rivers with bloody whirlpools delighted the flesh-eaters, and the battlefield became a playground for ghouls. Seeing this dreadful carnage, Yama, overwhelmed with anger, loosed a rain of arrows blazing like fire. Struck by many arrows, the mighty Grasana, eager for retaliation, drew his bow with terrifying aspect. With five hundred fierce arrows, he wounded Yama. Yama, considering the arrows and Grasana’s extraordinary valor, responded with fierce showers of arrows, his rain of missiles advancing through the sky. Grasana, lord of demons, cut down Yama’s rain of arrows with his own, rendering it fruitless. Yama watched as the stream of arrows was dispersed. Considering the mass of arrows aimed at Grasana’s chariot, Antaka hurled a dreadful mace at him with force. As the mace flew through the sky, the delight of the demons leapt up and caught it with his left hand. Grasping that very mace, Grasana, filled with wrath, struck Yama’s buffalo with speed, and the mighty beast fell to the earth.