But he, though gazing upon them, engaged in exceedingly severe austerities, and desire did not touch him. By his subdued senses he was like an ocean brimming to its shores in its depth. And the nymphs, having exerted every effort, returned to Indra. And all of them, with joined hands, addressed the lord of the gods, saying: 'O, this unassailable being cannot be shaken by us. O most gifted one, do now whatever may seem fitting to you.' The wise Indra honored the nymphs and then dismissed them, pondering, O Yudhishthira, solely on other means of destroying his enemy. And, endowed with intelligence, he devised a way to destroy the three-headed being. And he said: 'Let me strike him today with my thunderbolt. Thus he shall quickly be slain. Even a powerful man must not disregard a rising enemy, however contemptible he may be.'