Verse 1

¹Questioned in this way by the sons of the Daityas, the demon who was great among the Lord's own smiled, and remembering what I had told him, he spoke. ²When our father had set out for Mount Mandara to do austerities, the gods made a great effort of war against the Danavas. ³Vasava and the others were saying: By good luck the man who scorched the worlds has been eaten by his own wickedness, as a snake is eaten by ants. ⁴Hearing of that onset of theirs, so full of force, the leaders of the demon companies were cut down by the gods, and in fear they ran in every direction. ⁵They did not look back at wives, sons, wealth or kinsmen, at houses, cattle or goods; all of them went in haste, wanting only to keep their lives.

⁶The immortals, hungry for the victory, plundered the king's camp; and Indra seized the chief queen, who was my mother.