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Before the conflagration commenced in Khandava he had journeyed to Kurukshetra. Know from my words, O Vasava, that Vasudeva and Arjuna are incapable of being vanquished in battle by any one! They are Nara and Narayana those gods of old heard of in heaven! Thou knowest what their energy is and what their prowess.

And the son of Kunti, ascertaining the state of his treasury and the extent of his possessions, fixed his heart upon the celebration of a sacrifice. His friends and officers, each separately and all together, approaching him said, 'The time hath come, O exalted one, for thy sacrifice. Khandava, himself surrounded by a mighty host and filling the atmosphere with the rattle of his chariot-wheels.

O king, I have already told thee what he said, having approached the illustrious pair. O tiger among kings, hearing those words of Agni who was desirous of consuming the forest of Khandava against the will of Indra, Vibhatsu said unto him these words well-suited to the occasion, I have numberless excellent celestial weapons with which I can fight even many wielders of the thunderbolt.

They are called on earth Arjuna and Vasudeva. They are even now staying in the forest of Khandava. Solicit them for aiding thee in consuming that forest. Thou shalt then consume the forest even if it be protected by the celestials. I have no doubt of this! Hearing these words, Agni came in haste unto Krishna and Partha.

'I adore thee also, to obtain the ear-rings, O Takshaka, who formerly dwelt in Kurukshetra and the forest of Khandava! Takshaka and Aswasena, ye are constant companions who dwell in Kurukshetra on the banks of the Ikshumati!

Today I shall vomit that wrath which hath been nursed in my bosom upon Suyodhana, the son of Dhritarashtra, like Arjuna throwing fire on the forest of Khandava! I shall today pluck out the dart, O son of Pandu, that lay so long sticking to thy heart! Be happy, O king, after I shall have laid low this wretch with my mace! Today I shall recover, O sinless one, thy wreath of glory!

O hero, when on the occasion of the tale of cattle, I fought with the mighty Gandharvas, who was there to assist me? In that terrific encounter also with the Gods and Danavas banded together in great numbers at Khandava, who was my ally when I fought? When, again, I fought with the Nivatakavachas and with those other Danavas called Kalakeyas, who was my ally?

That Atiratha, endued with great activity, with Krishna as his ally, gratified the god Agni at Khandava. There, on that occasion, the high-souled Krishna obtained his discus, and Savyasaci, the son of Pandu, obtained his bow Gandiva.

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Then Agni did what the Sarngakas; asked him to do, telling them of his intentions. And, O Janamejaya, growing in strength, he began then to consume the forest of Khandava." "Vaisampayana said, 'O thou of Kuru's race, the Rishi Mandapala became very anxious about his children, although he had spoken of them to the god of fierce rays. Indeed, his mind was not in peace.

"Vaisampayana said, 'When the fire blazed forth in the forest of Khandava, the infant birds became very much distressed and afflicted. Filled with anxiety, they saw not any means of escape. Their mother, the helpless Jarita, knowing that they were too young to escape, was filled with sorrow and wept aloud.