Mahabharata Karna parva Chapter 34

Mahabharata Karna parva Chapter 34 "'Duryodhana said, "After the fears of those throngs of the pitris, the gods, and the Rishis had thus been dispelled by that high-souled Deity, Brahman then offered his adorations, unto Sankara, and said these words for the benefit of the universe, 'Through thy favour, O Lord of all, the Lordship of all creatures is mine. Occupying that rank, I have given a great boon to the Danavas. It behoveth none else, save thee, O Lord of the Past and the Future, to destroy those wicked wights that show no regard for any one. Thou O god, art the only person competent to slay the foes of these denizens of heaven that have sought thy protection and that solicit thee. O lord of all the gods, show favour to these. Slay the Danavas, O wielder of the trident. O giver of honours, let the universe, through thy grace, obtain happiness. O Lord of all the worlds, thou art the one whose shelter should be sought. We all seek thy shelter.' Sthanu said, 'All your foes should be slain. But, I shall not however, slay them single-handed. The enemies of the gods are possessed of might. Therefore, all of you, united together, consume those enemies of yours in battle, with half my might. Union is great strength.' The gods said, 'Theirs (Danavas') is twice the energy and might of ourselves, we think, for we have already seen their energy and might.' The holy one said, 'Those sinful wights that have offended against ye should be slain. With half of my energy and might, slay all those enemies of yours.' The gods said, 'We will not be able, O Maheswara, to bear half of thy energy. With, on the other hand, half of our united might, do thou slay those foes.' The holy one said, 'If, indeed, ye have not the ability to bear half of my might, then, endued with half of your united energy, I will slay them.' "'Duryodhana continued, "The celestials then, addressing the god of gods, said 'So be it' O best of kings. Taking half of their energies from all of them, he became superior in might. Indeed, in might that god became superior to all in the universe. From that time Sankara came to be called Mahadeva. And Mahadeva then said, 'Armed with bow and shaft, I will, from my car, slay in battle those foes of yours, ye denizens of heaven. Therefore, ye gods, see now to my car and bow and shaft so that I may, this very day, throw the Asuras down on the Earth.' The gods said, 'Gathering all forms that may be found in the three worlds and taking portions of each, we will each, O Lord of the gods, construct a car of great energy for thee. It will be a large car, the handiwork of Viswakarman, designed with intelligence.' Saying this, those tigers among the gods began the construction of that car. And they made Vishnu and Soma and Hutasana the arrow for Sankara's use. Agni became the staff, and Soma became the head, and Vishnu the point, O king, of that foremost of arrows. The goddess Earth, with her large cities and towns, her mountains and forests and islands, that home of diverse creatures, was made the car.