Narada recounts how Sunda and Upasunda conquered and terrorized the worlds
Empowered by a boon, the asura brothers Sunda and Upasunda decide to conquer the three worlds. They drive the gods from heaven and then systematically exterminate the brahmanas and rishis whose sacrifices sustain cosmic order, rendering the universe a silent, desolate ruin.
The festivities ended, and the two great asura brothers, Sunda and Upasunda, turned their minds to conquest. They had a boon that made them invincible to all except each other. With the permission of their elders, after arranging their army and performing the required rites, they set out under the ascendant constellation of Magha. A vast army of daityas (demons) followed them, armed with clubs, pikes, and spears. Charanas (celestial bards) sang auspicious songs for their victory. The brothers, intoxicated with the prospect of war and able to assume any form at will, rose into the sky and headed for the home of the gods.
The gods knew they were coming. They knew about the boon. Without offering battle, they fled heaven entirely and took refuge in Brahma’s world. With terrible valor, Sunda and Upasunda conquered Indra’s realm. They defeated the yakshas (nature spirits) and rakshasas (demons) of the sky, then turned downward. They vanquished the nagas (serpent-beings) who dwell under the earth, all the creatures of the ocean, and every mleccha (foreign) race.
Having subjugated the heavens and the underworld, they wished to complete their rule over the earth. They summoned their soldiers and gave them a strategic command. “The rajarshis (royal sages) and brahmanas,” they said, “with their great sacrifices and offerings, increase the energy, strength, and prosperity of the gods. This is how they injure us asuras. Together, we must attack and completely destroy them.”
With this cruel resolution, they sent their forces in all directions from the eastern shore of the great ocean. The two powerful brothers themselves killed any who performed sacrifices and any brahmanas who officiated at them, wherever they were found. In the hermitages of rishis (sages) who had mastered their senses, soldiers grabbed the sacred sacrificial fires and flung them away irreverently.
The sages, in their anger, hurled curses. But because of the boon granted to Sunda and Upasunda, the curses had no effect. They fell away like arrows striking stone. When the brahmanas saw this, they gave up their vows and fled in every direction. Those successful in austerities, who were self-controlled and calm, ran from the earth like snakes fleeing Garuda. All the hermitages were destroyed, their ritual pots and ladles broken and scattered. The entire universe was emptied, as if it were the time of final destruction.
With the rajarshis and rishis in hiding, the great asuras united in their decision to kill. They changed forms. They became mad, rutting elephants with oozing temples, sending those in the most inaccessible regions to Yama’s abode (the realm of death). Sometimes they became lions, then tigers. They also became invisible. With these forms, they slaughtered the rishis wherever they found them.
The consequences were total. Sacrifices and Vedic study ceased. The brahmanas were exterminated. The earth, bereft of festivals and sacrifices, cried out in fear. All commerce ended. The worship of the gods stopped. Sacred rites and marriages were no longer observed. Agriculture and cattle-tending ended. Cities and hermitages lay in ruins. The earth became terrible to behold, strewn with bones and skeletons. Ceremonies for the ancestors were not performed. The sacred chants fell silent.
The universe was a loathsome sight. Seeing the acts of Sunda and Upasunda, the moon, the sun, the planets, the stars, the constellations, and the dwellers of heaven were filled with depression. Having subjugated all directions with these terrible acts, the two daityas took up residence in Kurukshetra, having vanquished every enemy.