Arjuna Blows Devadatta and the Nivatakavachas Emerge
Arjuna circles the asura city, raises the conch Devadatta to his lips, and blows — gently. The sound stupefies the sky itself. From every direction, the Nivatakavachas emerge, armed and countless, and a battle begins that the gods themselves have come to witness.
Arjuna took out the conch shell Devadatta, whose sound was immense. He circled the city of the asuras once, and then he blew — gently.
The sound echoed everywhere. It seemed to stupefy the sky itself.
On hearing it, the immensely mighty beings inside the city trembled and hid themselves. But then they emerged. From every direction, the Nivatakavachas — Diti's sons, clad in impenetrable armor — appeared. They carried different kinds of weapons in their hands: gigantic iron lances, clubs, maces, spears, chariot wheels. There were shataghnis (weapons that could kill a hundred men at once), catapults, and brilliantly ornamented swords.
Matali, the divine charioteer, studied the terrain. He thought about the route the chariot should take, then drove the horses along level ground at great speed. The horses moved so fast that Arjuna could see nothing — the speed itself seemed extraordinary.
The danavas (demonic beings) adopted distorted voices and distorted shapes. The great sound of Devadatta made hundreds and thousands of fish die suddenly, floating up in the sky like mountains.
With great force, the danavas rushed toward Arjuna. They discharged hundreds and thousands of sharp arrows.
For the sake of the death of the Nivatakavachas, a great and terrible fight began between them and Arjuna.
Devarshis (divine sages), masses of rishis among the danavas, brahmarshis (Brahmin sages), and siddhas (perfected beings) assembled to witness that great battle. Hoping for victory, the hermits praised Arjuna with eloquent and sweet voices — just as they had praised Indra at the time of the Tarakamaya war between the gods and the asuras. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 463