Indra Attacks Kartikeya and Is Defeated

The gods had gathered around Mahasena — the boy born from Agni's seed, the one they called Kartikeya, Skanda, Guha. The planets and minor planets stood with him. The rishis. The mothers — the bands of fierce goddesses who attended him. Agni himself was there, radiant at his son's side. The entire host of heaven had chosen sides, and most of them had chosen the boy. Indra watched this from his palace and made his decision. He was unsure of victory — the text is explicit about this — but he wished to defeat Mahasena anyway. He ascended Airavata, his white elephant with four tusks, and set out with the army of the gods. They moved swiftly, desiring to kill Agni's son. The army was immense and terrible. It blazed with radiance. Its flags and decorations were colorful. Its vehicles and bows were countless. The gods wore beautiful garments and were attended by prosperity itself. They advanced, delighted at the prospect of killing the boy. Kumara — the young one — saw Shakra advancing with the intention of killing him. He advanced to meet him. Indra roared like a lion. The sound was meant to shake the enemy's resolve. It delighted his own army. Guha roared back. His roar was like the ocean — not a lion's challenge but something deeper, vaster, the sound of an element. The army of the gods heard it and lost its senses. They were agitated like the sea in a storm. Then Agni's son became angry. He saw the gods approaching to kill him, and he opened his mouth and belched forth large flames of fire. The flames burned the army of the gods. They writhed on the ground. Their heads and bodies were in flames. Their arms and their mounts blazed. They looked like clusters of stars that had suddenly been dislodged from the sky and were falling. The gods, having been burned, did something extraordinary: they abandoned the wielder of the vajra. They deserted Indra and sought refuge with Agni's son. They surrendered to the boy they had come to kill. And in doing so, they obtained peace. Indra was left alone. He hurled his vajra — the thunderbolt, the weapon that had killed Vritra, that had split mountains, that no being in the three worlds could withstand — at Skanda. It struck the boy's right side and split it open. From the split side, another being emerged. He was a youth, decorated in gold, clad in celestial earrings, wielding a spear. Because he was created from the entering of the vajra — from the force of the thunderbolt's penetration — he was named Vishakha. Indra saw a second being arise, like the fire of destruction, from the wound he had just inflicted. He was frightened. He joined his hands in salutation and sought refuge with Skanda. Skanda granted him safety. He granted it to Indra and to the army that had abandoned him. The thirty gods were delighted. They played on their musical instruments and rejoiced.