Sṛṣṭi-khaṇḍa · Chapter 69
Sourceव्यास उवाच- तारेयो बलसंपन्नः शक्रतुल्यपराक्रमः। जघान विशिखैस्स्कन्दं पितृघातिनमाहवे१। ततस्स्कन्दो महाबाहुर्हरितुल्यपराक्रमः। विचकर्त शरांस्तांस्तान्निर्बिभेद शरोत्तमैः२। स दैत्यस्सहसा स्कंदं छादयामास मार्गणैः। असंभ्रान्तः प्रचिच्छेद विशाखो विशिखैस्तदा३। तारेयोग्निशरैः स्कंदं जघान रणमूर्धनि। विशिखं भिदुरप्रख्यं चखान हरनंदने४। वैश्वानरेण सेनानीस्तत्र संपर्यवारयत्। रौद्रमस्त्रं पुनर्दैत्यः प्रेषयामास तं प्रति५। तन्निरस्तं कृतं तेन बाणेनास्फालितेन च। अघोरं प्राक्षिपद्दैत्यो घोररूपं सुदारुणं६। भूधरा विटपास्सिंहास्तथा सर्पादयः शराः। धावंति पार्वतीपुत्रं कोटिकोटिसहस्रशः७। छित्वा तांस्तुशरान्स्कंदो बिभेद दैत्यपुंगवं। आपादं शीर्षपर्यंतं शरैरग्न्यर्कसन्निभैः८। स्वर्णपुंखाः शरा लग्ना देहे दैत्यपतेर्भृशं। रेजुस्ते स्वर्णशकला यथा कृष्णशिलोच्चये९। तस्य देहात्ततश्चैव बहु सुस्राव शोणितं। यथा च माधवे मासि पुरुपुष्पश्शमी तरुः१०। स्यंदनाधश्चराश्वाश्च शिश्यिरे भूमिलग्नकाः। अथ क्रुद्धो महादैत्यः शूलं भीमं च दारुणं११। धृत्वा तं प्रतिचिक्षेप कालमृत्युसमप्रभं। पार्वतीनंदनेनापि शूलं पाशुपतेन ह१२। क्षिप्तं तेन कृतं दग्धं मुहूर्तेन रणाजिरे। पुनः शक्तिं मुमोचाथ ब्रह्मदत्तान्तु दानवः१३। शूलं प्रतिजघानाथ शतकूटसमप्रभम्। ततोऽस्त्रे वज्रसंकाशे जघटाते वियत्यपि१४। तयोस्सवीर्ययोरस्त्रे धरण्यां प्रणिपेततुः। ततो दैत्यपतिः स्कंदं शरैरग्निशिखोपमैः१५। अर्दयामास सहसा घनधारेव पर्वतं। तांस्तु च्छित्वा महाबाहुः सेनानीश्चापमस्य वै१६। विचकर्तार्धचंद्रेण तथा यंतुः शिरोमहत्। तथाश्वान्बहुभिर्बाणैः पातयामास भूतले१७। गृहीत्वा मुसलं वेगात्स दुद्राव स्थले गुहं। जघान तेन दैत्येन्द्रः शिखिनं शिखिवाहनं१८। ततो मोहं गतो बर्ही प्रचकंपे मुहुर्मुहुः। ततः स्कंदः पुनस्तं च जघानासुरपुंगवं१९। प्रचिच्छेदासिना वेगान्मुसलं चातिदारुणं। तारेयः शक्तिमादाय जघान क्रौंचदारणम्२०। सोपि शक्तिं मुमोचाथ अमोघां दुष्टघातिनीम्। ततः संदह्य सा शक्तिर्विश्वप्रलयकारिणी२१। यमदंडसमानं च भित्वा पुनर्गुहं गता। स गतासुः पपातोर्व्यां चालयंश्च वसुंधरां२२। पुष्पधूपादिभिः स्कंदः सर्वदेवैः प्रपूजितः२३। इति श्रीपाद्मपुराणे प्रथमे सृष्टिखंडे तारेयवधोनामैकोनसप्ततितमोऽध्यायः६९।
vyāsa uvāca- tāreyo balasaṃpannaḥ śakratulyaparākramaḥ| jaghāna viśikhaisskandaṃ pitṛghātinamāhave1| tatasskando mahābāhurharitulyaparākramaḥ| vicakarta śarāṃstāṃstānnirbibheda śarottamaiḥ2| sa daityassahasā skaṃdaṃ chādayāmāsa mārgaṇaiḥ| asaṃbhrāntaḥ praciccheda viśākho viśikhaistadā3| tāreyogniśaraiḥ skaṃdaṃ jaghāna raṇamūrdhani| viśikhaṃ bhiduraprakhyaṃ cakhāna haranaṃdane4| vaiśvānareṇa senānīstatra saṃparyavārayat| raudramastraṃ punardaityaḥ preṣayāmāsa taṃ prati5| tannirastaṃ kṛtaṃ tena bāṇenāsphālitena ca| aghoraṃ prākṣipaddaityo ghorarūpaṃ sudāruṇaṃ6| bhūdharā viṭapāssiṃhāstathā sarpādayaḥ śarāḥ| dhāvaṃti pārvatīputraṃ koṭikoṭisahasraśaḥ7| chitvā tāṃstuśarānskaṃdo bibheda daityapuṃgavaṃ| āpādaṃ śīrṣaparyaṃtaṃ śarairagnyarkasannibhaiḥ8| svarṇapuṃkhāḥ śarā lagnā dehe daityapaterbhṛśaṃ| rejuste svarṇaśakalā yathā kṛṣṇaśiloccaye9| tasya dehāttataścaiva bahu susrāva śoṇitaṃ| yathā ca mādhave māsi purupuṣpaśśamī taruḥ10| syaṃdanādhaścarāśvāśca śiśyire bhūmilagnakāḥ| atha kruddho mahādaityaḥ śūlaṃ bhīmaṃ ca dāruṇaṃ11| dhṛtvā taṃ praticikṣepa kālamṛtyusamaprabhaṃ| pārvatīnaṃdanenāpi śūlaṃ pāśupatena ha12| kṣiptaṃ tena kṛtaṃ dagdhaṃ muhūrtena raṇājire| punaḥ śaktiṃ mumocātha brahmadattāntu dānavaḥ13| śūlaṃ pratijaghānātha śatakūṭasamaprabham| tato'stre vajrasaṃkāśe jaghaṭāte viyatyapi14| tayossavīryayorastre dharaṇyāṃ praṇipetatuḥ| tato daityapatiḥ skaṃdaṃ śarairagniśikhopamaiḥ15| ardayāmāsa sahasā ghanadhāreva parvataṃ| tāṃstu cchitvā mahābāhuḥ senānīścāpamasya vai16| vicakartārdhacaṃdreṇa tathā yaṃtuḥ śiromahat| tathāśvānbahubhirbāṇaiḥ pātayāmāsa bhūtale17| gṛhītvā musalaṃ vegātsa dudrāva sthale guhaṃ| jaghāna tena daityendraḥ śikhinaṃ śikhivāhanaṃ18| tato mohaṃ gato barhī pracakaṃpe muhurmuhuḥ| tataḥ skaṃdaḥ punastaṃ ca jaghānāsurapuṃgavaṃ19| pracicchedāsinā vegānmusalaṃ cātidāruṇaṃ| tāreyaḥ śaktimādāya jaghāna krauṃcadāraṇam20| sopi śaktiṃ mumocātha amoghāṃ duṣṭaghātinīm| tataḥ saṃdahya sā śaktirviśvapralayakāriṇī21| yamadaṃḍasamānaṃ ca bhitvā punarguhaṃ gatā| sa gatāsuḥ papātorvyāṃ cālayaṃśca vasuṃdharāṃ22| puṣpadhūpādibhiḥ skaṃdaḥ sarvadevaiḥ prapūjitaḥ23| iti śrīpādmapurāṇe prathame sṛṣṭikhaṃḍe tāreyavadhonāmaikonasaptatitamo'dhyāyaḥ69|
English translation
Vyāsa said :
1. Tāreya, possessed of power and resembling Indra in valour, struck, with arrows, Skanda , who had killed his father in the war.
2. Then Skanda of mighty arms and equal to Viṣṇu in valour cut off and broke those arrows.
3. The demon suddenly screened Skanda with arrows. Then Skanda, without getting perturbed, cut them off with (his) arrows.
4. Tāreya struck Skanda with fire-like arrows at the peak of fight. He (also) hurled an arrow resembling the thunderbolt.
5. Kārtikeya warded it off with a fire-like arrow. The demon then discharged at him a fierce missile.
6. He dispelled it with an arrow that he struck at it. Then the demon hurled a very fearful missile of a terrible form at Kārtikeya.
7. Then thousands of crores of mountains, trees, lions and serpents in the form of arrows rushed at the son of Pārvatī (i.e. Kārtikeya).
8. Having cut them off Skanda pierced the best of the demons from his feet to his head (i.e. top to toe) with arrows resembling fire and the sun.
9. Arrows, with their feathered parts made of gold, stuck in a very large measure, to the body of the lord of demons. They shone (on his body) as pieces of gold shine on a black mountain. [1]
10. Then from his body profuse blood flowed out, as in the spring the Śamī tree puts forth flowers profusely.
11-13a. The horses under (i.e. which carried) the chariot, lay clinging to the ground. Then the great angry demon holding a fierce and terrible lance resembling death at the end of the world, hurled it (at Kārtikeya). The son of Pārvatī too burnt it in a moment in the battle by discharging a lance presided over by Paśupati .
13b-14. Then the demon again hurled a (missile called) śakti given (to him) by Brahmā . Kārtikeya struck back a lance powerful like a hundred mallets. Then missiles resembling the thunderbolt struck each other even in the sky.
15-16. The missiles of the two who were brave, fell down on the ground. As the stream of (water from) clouds suddenly strikes a mountain, so the lord of demons struck Kārtikeya with arrows like fire-flames.
17. Then cutting them off and also his arrow the mighty-armed Kārtikeya also cut off the mighty head of his charioteer with an arrow with a crescent-shaped head. Then with many arrows he struck down on the ground his horses.
18. On the (battle-) field he, taking a pestle (in his hand) speedily rushed at Kārtikeya; (and) with that the chief of demons struck Kārtikeya, whose vehicle is the peacock.
19-20a. Then the peacock swooned, and trembled repeatedly. Then Kārtikeya again struck the best of the demons and with his sword cut off with force that very fearful pestle.
20b-22a. Taking a (missile called) śakti Tāreya struck Kārtikeya. He too, discharged an unfailing śakti, which killed the wicked. Then that śakti (capable of) bringing about the end of the world, struck (Tāreya) who resembled the staff of Yama , and again went (back) to Kārtikeya.
22b-23. Causing the earth to tremble he (i.e. Tāreya) fell down on the ground. Kārtikeya was worshipped by all gods with flowers, incense etc.
[1]: [1] : Kṛṣṇaśiloccaya—or Kṛṣṇaparvata, is an epithet of the Raivataka mountain.
Complete chapter-aligned witnesses. Sanskrit Wikisource page 45224, revision 334591 (2022-04-06T08:37:44Z). English is N. A. Deshpande’s complete translation, controlled against its chapter page at https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-padma-purana/d/doc364192.html and the ten-volume archival witness. The witnesses are aligned at chapter level; no unsupported verse-by-verse equivalence is asserted.