of various sights with (pieces of) flesh, fat, bones, and marrow on their persons,—­some having three heads, and some four tusks, and some four mouths, and some four arms,—­the Danavas met with destruction.  And, then, O Bharata, in a moment I slew all those Danavas, with other swarms of arrows composed of the quintessence of stone, flaming like fire or the sun, and possessed of the force of the thunder-bolt.  And, seeing them hewn by the Gandiva, and deprived of life, and thrown from the sky, I again bowed unto that god—­the Destroyer of Tripura.  And, seeing those adorned with unearthly ornaments, crushed by the weapon, the Raudra, the charioteer of the celestials, experienced the greatest delight.  And having witnessed the accomplishment of that unbearable feat incapable of being achieved even by the celestials themselves, Matali, the charioteer of Sakra, paid homage unto me; and well-pleased, with joint hands said these words.  ’The feat that hath been achieved by thee, is incapable of being borne even by the gods, nay,—­in battle, the lord of the celestials himself cannot perform this deed.  The sky-coursing mighty city incapable of being destroyed by the gods and the Asuras hast thou, O hero, crushed by thy own prowess and by the energy of asceticism.  And when that aerial city had been destroyed, and when the Danavas also had been slain, their wives, uttering cries of distress, like unto Kurari birds, with hair dishevelled came out of the city.  And bewailing for their sons and brothers and fathers, they fell on the ground and cried with distressful accents.  And on being deprived for their lords, they beat their breasts, their garlands and ornaments fallen off.  And that city of Danavas, in appearance like unto the city of the Gandharvas filled with lamentations and stricken with dole and distress, and bereft of grace even like unto a lake deprived of (its) elephants, or like unto a forest deprived of trees and (deprived of its) masters, looked no longer beautiful—­but it vanished, like a cloud-constructed city.  And when I had accomplished the task, eftsoons from the field Matali took me of delighted spirits, unto the abode of the lord of the celestials.  And having slain those mighty Asuras, and destroyed Hiranyapura, and having also killed the Nivata-Kavachas, I came unto Indra.  And, O exceedingly resplendent one, as it had fallen out, Matali related in detail unto Devendra that entire achievement of mine.  And with the Marutas, hearing of the destruction of Hiranyapura, of the neutralisation of the illusion, and of the slaughter of the highly powerful Nivatakavachas in fight, the prosperous thousand-eyed divine Purandara was well pleased, and exclaimed, ’Well done; Well done!’ And the king of the celestials together with the celestials, cheering me again and again, said these sweet words, ’By thee hath been achieved a feat incapable of being achieved by the gods and the Asuras.  And, O Partha, by slaying my mighty enemies, thou hast paid the preceptor’s fee.  And, O Dhananjaya, thus in battle shalt thou always remain calm, and discharge the weapons unerringly, and there shall not stand thee in fight celestials, and Danavas, and Rakshasas, and Yakshas, and Asuras, and Gandharvas and birds and serpents.  And, O Kaunteya, by conquering it even by the might of thy arms, Kunti’s son Yudhishthira, will rule the earth.’”