'
"'"The holy one said, 'Those sinful wights that have offended against ye
should be slain. With half of my energy and might, slay all those enemies
of yours.'
"'"The gods said, 'We will not be able, O Maheswara, to bear half of thy
energy. With, on the other hand, half of our united might, do thou slay
those foes.'
"'"The holy one said, 'If, indeed, ye have not the ability to bear half
of my might, then, endued with half of your united energy, I will slay
them.'
"'Duryodhana continued, "The celestials then, addressing the god of gods,
said 'So be it' O best of kings. Taking half of their energies from all
of them, he became superior in might. Indeed, in might that god became
superior to all in the universe. From that time Sankara came to be called
Mahadeva. And Mahadeva then said, 'Armed with bow and shaft, I will, from
my car, slay in battle those foes of yours, ye denizens of heaven.
Therefore, ye gods, see now to my car and bow and shaft so that I may,
this very day, throw the Asuras down on the Earth.'
"'"The gods said, 'Gathering all forms that may be found in the three
worlds and taking portions of each, we will each, O Lord of the gods,
construct a car of great energy for thee. It will be a large car, the
handiwork of Viswakarman, designed with intelligence.' Saying this, those
tigers among the gods began the construction of that car. And they made
Vishnu and Soma and Hutasana the arrow for Sankara's use. Agni became the
staff, and Soma became the head, and Vishnu the point, O king, of that
foremost of arrows.
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