d, "Thy prowess is unrivalled, O hero, do thou therefore
vanquish the enemies of the gods. People have been struck with wonder at
thy prowess. More specially as I have been bereft of my prowess, and
defeated by thee, now if I were to act as Indra, I should not command
the respect of all creatures, and they would be busy in bringing about
dissensions between us; and then, my lord, they would become the
partisans of one or other of us. And when they formed themselves into
two distinct factions, war as before would be the result of that
defection. And in that war, thou wouldst undoubtedly defeat me without
difficulty and thyself become the lord of all worlds."

"'Skanda replied, "Thou, O Sakra, art my sovereign, as also of the three
worlds; mayst thou be prosperous! Tell me if I can obey any commands of
thine."

"'Indra replied, "At thy bidding, O powerful being, I shall continue to
act as Indra. And if thou hast said this deliberately and in earnest,
then hear me how thou canst gratify thy desire of serving me. Do thou, O
mighty being, take the leadership of the celestial forces accordingly."

"'Skanda replied, "Do thou anoint me as leader, for the destruction of
the Danavas, for the good of the celestials, and for the well-being of
cows and Brahmanas."'

"Markandeya continued, "Thus anointed by Indra and all other gods, and
honoured by the _Maharshis_, he looked grand at the moment. The golden
umbrella[37] held (over his head) looked like a halo of blazing fire.
That famous god, the Conqueror of Tripura, himself fastened the
celestial wreath of gold, of Viswakarma's manufacture, round his neck.
And, O great man and conqueror of thine enemies, that worshipful god
with the emblem of the bull, had gone there previously with Parvati. He
honoured him with a joyous heart. The Fire-god is called Rudra by
Brahmanas, and from this fact Skanda is called the son of Rudra. The
White Mountain was formed from discharges of Rudra's _semen virile_ and
the sensual indulgences of the Fire-god with the Krittikas took place on
that same White Mountain. And as Rudra was seen by all the dwellers of
heaven to heap honours on the excellent Guha (Skanda), he was for that
reason reputed as the son of Rudra. This child had his being by the
action of Rudra entering into the constitution of the Fire-god, and for
this reason, Skanda came to be known as the son of Rudra. And, O
Bharata, as Rudra, the Fire-god, Swaha, and the six wives (of the seven