the four sides of the celestial army and kept a vigilant watch over their respective quarters. (20). The sun shone there burning in his own effulgent rays, on his car, drawn by seven horses that course in the welkin (21), Shining in his own effulgence of thousand rays, and ascending the car in which he, conferring heat on all the eternal regions, goes to the rising and setting mountains, the _Dwādashātma_¹⁵³ lord of rays began to move about in the midst of the celestials (23–24). Delighting the universe with his cool and watery rays the moon, of cool rays, shone on his car drawn by white horses (24). The Danavas saw, in the battle-field, Soma, of cool rays who is the presiding deity of the Brāhmanas, is encircled by the stars, whose body is marked by the shadow of the earth, who dispells the nocturnal darkness, who is the lord of all luminous bodies in the sky, who is the source of all the juices, who is the lord and protector of all the plants, who is the source of nectar, who is the first source of food to the world, who is identical with gentle and cool juice and who distributes dews (25–27). Being excited by his own energy and joined by the cloud Vayu, the life of all creatures, began to blow there in contrary directions and assail the Daityas. He is the life of all creatures and lives in man as five vital airs; and being divided into seven it is sustaining the three worlds consisting of mobile and immobile creations. People call him the charioteer of fire and he is the cause and, lord of all. The source of his origin is the seven musical notes which are used in singing. He is called the most excellent element and is bodiless. He courses in the sky, goes very quickly and has sound for his origin (28–39). The Maruts, accompanied by the Devas, Gandharvas and Vidyadharas, began to sport there with unsheathed swords white as the serpents (32). Pouring, in anger, deadly venom the leading serpents became as it were the arrows of the gods, and began, with their mouths open, to range in the sky (33). All the mountains appeared before the gods to grind the Dānavas with their rocky summits and with trees consisting of hundreds of branches (34). The highly illustrious and intelligent lord Hari, the holder of discus and mace, who is the lotus-navelled Hrishikesha of three foot-steps, who is highly effulgent like the fire of dissolution, who is the master of the universe, who is Madhusudana, born from the ocean, who feeds on Havya and is honored by sacrifies, who is identical with earth, water and ether, who is at one with the elements, who gives peace and equanimity of mind, who destroys his enemies, who is the source and seed of the universe, who is the preceptor of the world and who has the emblem of Garuda on his flag, took up, in the midst of the celestial army, his enemy-killing discus, effulgent like the rising fire in the rising solar disc, the maces Vrihati and Mahati, that kill all the