|
Page26
Martand Bhairav himself was astride a brilliant white charger. A giant scimitar hung from his belt. His minister was attending on him. When the army was drawn up, the commander presented it to the Lord who immediately ordered an advance against the demons. Great was the excitement and furore. The huge army soon arrived near Jayadri where a camp was erected. Mani and Malta heard reports of the vast force advancing towards them, but were not in the least worried. Were they not unconquerable and invincible? And who was this Shiva? Had they not made Indra and Yama and Vishnu take to their heels before them? They could sure enough make short work of this crowd. Bugles were sounded and formations marched out in battle order.
The leader of the demonic hordes was Mani. He was riding an elephant that looked likea moving mountain. He wore shining armour and wielded a long scimitar. The battle cry of the daityas rose sky high ! So confident of their strength were the demons and such was the fury of their Charge that the army of the gods at first was taken aback. The initial losses suffered by them were enormous. But soon they recovered from the shock and then the real conflict began. There ensued a fierce clash. The battle field was littered with hundreds of severed heads and limbs, corpses were number less. Various commanders engaged themselves in face to face battles with their opposite number. Thus Khadga- damshtra, a demonic general joined issue with Skanda. Ulkamukh faced Ganesh.
|
