Arundhati

Lomasa begins a tour of the sacred region of Kashmira, pointing out holy lakes, mountains, and hermitages to Yudhishthira. He recounts the story of King Ushinara's sacrifice — a test by Indra and Agni that would determine whether a mortal king could equal the gods.

Pleased with the union, Shiva catches Agni's semen in her hand and fears that people will see it and speak of the brahmanas' wives' misdeeds. She becomes a Garudi (Suparni), flies to Mount Shveta guarded by serpents, and hurls the semen into a golden well. She then assumes the forms of the other wives of the saptarshis and unites with Agni six times — but cannot assume Arundhati's form due to her faithfulness.

Terrible portents shake the world, and the rishis fear the calamities have come because Agni slept with the wives of the saptarshis. But no one knows the truth — that the deed was done by Svaha, the goddess of offering, who had taken the form of each wife to seduce the fire god. When the child Skanda is born, the gods themselves tremble at his power and send the mothers of the world to destroy him.