Adhyaya 5

Prompted by Yudhiṣṭhira’s question, Nārada explains that Jālandhara’s enmity springs from the churning of the Milk Ocean and the rise of ocean-born treasures—Śrī, Soma, amṛta, and more. Jālandhara sends his envoy Durvāraṇa to Indra’s court, demanding those riches and even Svarga itself. Indra replies that the churning was an act of restraint and punishment, for the Ocean had abetted forces opposed to dharma, and he foretells Jālandhara’s impending ruin. Enraged, Jālandhara musters vast Daitya and Dānava hosts, marches through the cosmic regions (Mandara–Meru–Ilāvṛta), and lays waste to divine groves. Ominous portents shake Amarāvatī; Indra seeks counsel and refuge in Hari/Viṣṇu. Though Śrī cautions about Jālandhara’s standing, Viṣṇu leads the Devas, their arrays are named and set in order, and a cataclysmic Deva–Dānava war begins, with matched champions confronting one another on both sides.