Indra and Agni

Arjuna and Krishna encircle the Khandava forest, hunting down every creature that tries to flee while the god Agni rages through the woods. The gods, alarmed by the conflagration, beg Indra to intervene. Indra summons torrential rains, but the fire's heat evaporates the showers before they can touch the flames, setting the stage for a direct battle between the fire and the king of the gods.

The god of fire, Agni, rages through the Khandava forest, consuming everything. Krishna and Arjuna stand guard with divine weapons, slaughtering every creature that tries to flee and feeding them to the flames. Even the gods, led by Indra, arrive to save the forest but are utterly repulsed by the two warriors.

The Khandava forest is gone, consumed by Agni after five days and a night of burning. The fire, drunk on rivers of fat and marrow, appears before Arjuna and Krishna, satisfied. Then Indra himself descends, surrounded by the Maruts, and offers the heroes a reward for a deed even gods would find difficult.

The rishis Narada and Parvata visit Indra's celestial court, and Indra notices that the brave kshatriya kings no longer come to him. Narada explains that Damayanti's svayamvara is imminent — and the lokapalas (guardians of the world), overhearing, decide to go as well. On their way to Vidarbha, the gods encounter Nala and ask him to become their messenger.

Four gods — Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama — desire Damayanti and choose Nala to deliver their proposal. Nala has already promised to do their bidding, but when he learns the task, he protests: he himself desires Damayanti. The gods insist he keep his word.

When Damayanti enters the svayamvara arena, she finds five identical men — the four gods disguised as Nala and Nala himself — and cannot tell which is her chosen husband. She prays to the gods, asking them to reveal their true forms, and they grant her request, allowing her to see Nala's mortal signs and place the garland around his shoulders.

After Damayanti chooses Nala, the four gods — delighted by her choice — each grant Nala two boons: Indra gives him presence at sacrifices and supreme sacred goals; Agni gives him his presence whenever desired and resplendent worlds; Yama gives him taste of food and establishment in dharma; Varuna gives him his presence and a fragrant garland. The gods return to heaven, the kings depart, and Nala marries Damayanti, ruling righteously like Yayati.

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.

King Ushinara's sacrifice surpasses Indra's own, drawing the king of the gods and Agni down to test him. Indra becomes a hawk, Agni a dove — and the dove, fleeing the hawk, alights on the king's thigh seeking refuge, beginning a trial that will reveal the measure of a mortal king.

Five sages perform terrible austerities for many years, seeking a son equal to Brahma. From their combined power, a five-colored fire named Panchajanya is born — and then proceeds to perform his own austerities for ten thousand years, creating gods, ancestors, and the entire cosmic order of sacrificial fire.

Indra, king of the gods, rides out on Airavata with the full army of heaven to kill Agni's son, Mahasena. But when the boy god roars back and belches flames that burn the divine army to cinders, the gods abandon their king — and Indra is left alone to hurl his vajra at a being who cannot be killed by it.

Prajapati Brahma tells Mahasena (Skanda) to go to his father Mahadeva, then explains the strange circumstances of his birth — how Rudra entered Agni and Uma entered Svaha, how the semen was scattered five ways, and how the flesh-eating ganas were born from it. Skanda agrees, worships his father, and is affectionately received.

Yudhishthira is weighed down by the calamity that has befallen him. Dhoumya, his priest, speaks to him — not with empty consolation, but with a catalogue of gods who once hid in the most unlikely places: Indra in a hermitage, Vishnu in a womb, Agni in water. If the great-souled ones concealed themselves to conquer their enemies, Dhoumya asks, why should a king not do the same?