The very wind ceased to move, and fire itself, though fed,
did not blaze forth. The stars in the firmament, in anxiety, began to
wander in irregular courses. The Sun's splendour decreased. The disc of
the Moon lost its beauty. The entire welkin became enveloped in a thick
gloom. The celestials, overwhelmed, knew not what to do. Their Sacrifice
ceased to blaze forth. The gods were all terrified. Rudra then pierced
the embodiment of Sacrifice with a fierce shaft in the heart. The
embodied form of Sacrifice, assuming the shape of a deer, fled away, with
the god of fire. Approaching heaven in that form, he blazed forth in
beauty. Rudra, however, O Yudhishthira, pursued him through the skies.
After Sacrifice had fled away, the gods lost their splendour. Having lost
their senses, the gods were stupefied.
Then the three-eyed Mahadeva, with his bow, broke in rage the arms of
Savitri, and plucked out the eyes of Bhaga and the teeth of Pushana. The
gods then fled away, as also all the several parts of Sacrifice. Some
amongst them, reeling as they sought to fly away, fell down senseless.
The blue-throated Rudra, having agitated them thus, laughed aloud, and
whirling the horn of his bow, paralysed them. The celestials then uttered
a cry. At their command, the string of the bow broke. The string having
broken, the bow became stretched into a line. The gods then approached
the bowless god of gods and, with the embodied form of Sacrifice, sought
the protection of the puissant Mahadeva and endeavoured to gratify him.
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