Dhundhu Oppresses Gods and Hides in Sand

Dhundhu had his boon. Now he remembered his fathers. Madhu and Kaitabha had been killed by Vishnu — two of the most powerful asuras ever born, cut down at the dawn of creation. Dhundhu had not forgotten. He went to Vishnu and attacked. The battle was not subtle. Dhundhu, empowered by Brahma's gift, defeated all the gods and the gandharvas (celestial musicians). He cruelly oppressed them — every one of them, including Vishnu himself. The boon made him untouchable. No weapon of the gods could harm him. No celestial power could check him. But Dhundhu was not satisfied with conquest alone. There was a place called Ujjanaka — an ocean of sand, a vast desert where nothing lived and nothing moved except the wind shifting dunes. The evil-minded one went to that region. He entered the interior of the earth and hid in the sand. There, near the hermitage of the sage Utanka, he settled himself. He began to breathe. His breath was flames of fire. The flames rose from the sand, scorching the hermitage, threatening the sage's austerities. Dhundhu lay buried beneath the desert, drawing on the strength of his tapasya (austerities), waiting — planning to destroy the world itself. The gods watched from above. They could do nothing. Their weapons were useless against him. The boon protected him from every celestial power. But the boon had not mentioned men. It had not mentioned kings. And there was a king who was about to be summoned.