Śambara, the mighty asura king, sat within the safety of his city, his mind brimming with satisfaction. He reflected, “Truly, my army, protected as it is by the demon of illusion, will surely be victorious.” He took comfort in the state of his enemies, for they seemed stripped of all desire and aversion; in battle, they neither showed fear nor fled, nor did they stand firm with resolve. When even the gods could not make these adversaries flee, Śambara became convinced: his army, now endowed with extraordinary strength, stood unshakable. Guarded by the formidable demon Atibalā, his troops, he believed, would remain as steadfast as the golden earth of the celestial mountain, unmoved even by the mighty tusks of the greatest heavenly elephants. Then, from the ocean’s caves, from deep ravines, and from the peaks of the celestial mountain, the demons rose up with terrifying roars, as if they were playfully lifting winged mountains. Their bodies, torn by the blows of celestial serpents, filled the sky, their hands striking down the very sun itself. In terror, the hosts of heaven-dwellers rose up from their groves, caves, and from the mountain of the gods, as though it were the end of the world. Between these two mighty hosts—a dreadful battle flared, led by the chiefs of gods and demons, as chaotic and fearsome as the dissolution of the universe, raging in another realm. Heads tumbled from the sky, as if the moon and sun themselves had been cast down by the force of destruction, their flesh darkened by the brilliance of shattered earrings. The warriors staggered, roaring with the cries of battle and the thunder of lion-shouts, like mountains laughing amid the gusts of the wind of destruction. The slopes of noble mountains trembled, their golden peaks confused and frightened as weapons struck with a force equal to their own rocky mass. Loose sparks of fire, born from the clash of weapons, scattered like stars shattering at the end of an age. On the riverbanks, now swollen with waves of blood and flesh, tall and slender ghosts—like palm trees at the world’s end—sang in eerie chorus. In the sky, amid clouds stilled by showers of blood and dust, the tips of shattered crowns and earrings, struck by weapons, flashed forth. The directions became impenetrable as the mountain-king was shattered by the blows of demons whose arms resembled wish-fulfilling trees and whose forms blazed like the sun. Mountains, their slopes split open by the blows of blazing swords, seemed reduced to heaps of fragments, as if consumed by the fires of dissolution. The gods, gathering their brilliance as if kindled by the fire of a horse sacrifice, pursued the demons like winds chasing away clouds. Overpowering their foes, the gods seized the demons as wildcats snatch decrepit rats. In the sky, gods and demons shone like blossoming forests swaying atop mountain peaks. They filled the ten directions with volleys of weapons, just as winds fill the forests of Mount Meru with masses of flowers. A terrible battle raged between the armies of gods and demons, like swarms of giant mosquitoes clashing within the hollows of fig trees. The guardians of the worlds raised their lofty standards, and a dreadful roar of battle filled the sky, swelling like clouds at the world’s end. In the sky, a massive, dense cloud appeared, as if seizing a portion of the earth—swollen like the belly of a mountain churned by mighty fists. The clash of weapons and mountains, crushed at the first assault, resounded with a harsh, dreadful roar, as if wrung from hearts shattered and emptied of life. It swelled like the thunderclouds of doomsday, expanding across the heavens, shining like molten gold struck by twelve suns together. From the collision with the walls of the universe, the tumult recoiled and fell to earth, like a mighty flood surging into a mine after breaking through a dam. The uproar roared with the force of winds beating against winged mountains, echoing through the shattered caves of those hard, overflowing peaks. It was like the churning of the milk ocean by Mount Mandara, shaking the world; islands and their creatures were struck, and the air echoed with booming and crashing sounds. Between the two enraged armies, a furious and demonic battle erupted, crushing cities, villages, mountains, forests, and men. The directions were filled with mountains and demons, cut down by hundreds of great weapons; the sky was thick with dust from shattered weapons and rocks. The clash of missiles shattered hundreds of Meru’s peaks, and the wind of arrows swept away demons, gods, asuras, and even lotuses. The sky was veiled by swirling dust from countless chariot wheels, the trampled grass of gods and demons, and the surging waves of advancing armies. Hosts of celestial beings fell, crushed by weapons and mountains, while the heavens were flooded by torrents of ocean water brought forth by elephants. Hundreds of rivers of swords, spears, and missiles flowed, carrying away the domes of the universe, shattered and scattered by the wings of mountain peaks. Cities of the lords of the world fell under the repeated blows of demon heels, and golden palaces resounded with the tumultuous cries of women. The demon hosts, tossed about by the waves of the maddened ocean and mountains, rolled on the ground, while the sky was washed clean by streams of released blood and echoed with their cries. The world, covered and concealed by the waters of many oceans and filled with noble ones, was again seen teeming with armies, illuminated by the radiance of gods and demons. It became a terrifying and dreadful place, with demon-mountains shaped like winged peaks coming and going, and filled with the crackling sounds of destruction. The earth, ocean, and mountains were reddened everywhere by streams of blood flowing from the wounded demon-mountains, their peaks split by weapons and rocks. All around were ruined kingdoms, cities, forests, villages, and mountain caves, filled with countless demons, elephants, horses, humans, chariots, and mountains. The paths were traversed by celestial maidens and demons, and the mountains were shattered by torrents from clouds as dense as those at the dawn of a cosmic age.