came upon resting on his serpent couch. He wanted to rise and honour him. welcomed him, but neither accepted the other's claim to be the greater lord.
Their words became a battle. They fought from their vehicles, a swan and , while their attendants joined in. The gods watched from above. Then and launched weapons with fire fierce enough to threaten all three worlds.
The frightened gods went to . He came to the battlefield, and the music and shouting of his attendants fell silent. Between the two burning weapons, a column of fire suddenly rose. Both weapons disappeared into it.
The gods had found seated with . He knew why they had come. When he reached the place of battle, he made himself unseen. Only the new fire between and showed what he had done.
and looked up. They could not see where the fire ended. They looked down. They could not see where it began.
We must find its top and bottom, they decided. They would search in opposite directions.
became a boar and went down through the worlds below. became a swan and flew upward. The boar kept going, farther and farther, until he was exhausted. No root appeared. He turned back.
The swan flew high for a long time. Then saw a flower drifting downward through the fire. Its fragrance and colour were still fresh.
The text says the flower had been falling for years, yet its scent and brightness had not faded. It was no ordinary petal blown loose from a tree. stopped his climb to speak to it instead of continuing toward a top he still could not see.
asked where it had come from. The flower said it had fallen from the middle of the column and had been falling for years. If even the flower had not seen the top, how could hope to find it?
asked the flower to help him with another answer. When they returned, it should tell that had reached the top and that the flower had witnessed it. The flower agreed.
At the place where they had begun, admitted he had searched below and found no bottom. said he had seen the top. The flower supported him. believed them and honoured .
Then stepped out of the column. It had been his own form, beyond the ends either god could find. bowed and asked forgiveness for their quarrel and their search.
told that he was pleased with him. had wanted to be first, yet he had spoken truly about his failure. promised him honour and worship.
turned to . The claim about reaching the top had been false, and the flower had repeated it. summoned , who seized 's fifth head and raised a sword. fell at his feet. pleaded for him, and told to stop.
said would not have his own temples and festivals. Yet he also gave a place in sacred rites. A sacrifice would need him. Sparing was not the same as calling the lie true.
accepted that his head had been spared. did not leave the creator without a duty; he made necessary at household and public sacrifices. Both the mercy and the consequence remained in force.
then told the flower it could not be offered in his worship. When the flower asked for mercy, he allowed his followers to wear it and allowed it above his image as a canopy decoration.
slow down here came back empty-handed and told the truth. came back with a witness and a claim. The column of fire had no end for either of them, but the words each chose at the end were entirely his own.