Durga Saptashati
|| ‘Chapter Two’ ||
Chapter 2:
The Advent of the Goddess from the Tejas (Aura/Radiance) of the Devas and the Slaying of Mahishasura’s Army
॥ Application (Viniyoga) ॥
Om, the Risi (sage) of the Middle Chapter is Vishnu, the presiding deity is Mahalakshmi, the meter is Usnik, the Shakti (power) is Shakambhari, the Bija (seed mantra) is Durga, the Tattva (element) is Vayu (air), and the form is the Yajurveda. This is applied to the recitation of the Middle Chapter for the pleasure of Sri Mahalakshmi.
॥ Dhyana (Meditation) ॥
I worship the pleased, lotus-seated Goddess Mahalakshmi, the destroyer of Mahishasura, who holds in her hands an akshamala (rosary), an axe, a mace, arrows, a thunderbolt, a lotus, a bow, a kundika (water pot), a staff, a shakti (spear), a sword, a shield, a conch, a bell, a honey-cup, a trident, a noose, and a discus.
The Sage said: In ancient times, there was a fierce battle between the gods and the asuras (demons) for a hundred years. Mahishasura was the lord of the asuras, and Indra was the leader of the gods. In that war, the army of the gods was defeated by the mighty asuras. Mahishasura, having conquered all the gods, himself became Indra.
Then the defeated gods, led by Prajapati Brahma, went to the place where Lord Shankar and Vishnu were seated.
The gods extensively narrated to those two lords of the gods the actual account of Mahishasura’s valor and their own defeat
They said, ‘O Bhagavan! Mahishasura has seized the rights of Surya (Sun), Indra, Agni (Fire), Vayu (Wind), Chandra (Moon), Yama, Varuna, and other deities, and has himself become the sole ruler of all.
That wicked-souled Mahisha has driven all the gods out of heaven. Now they wander on Earth like mortals.
We have narrated to you all these deeds of the daityas (demons). Now we have come to your shelter. Please devise a means for his destruction.’
Thus, hearing the words of the Devas, Lord Vishnu and Shiva became greatly enraged at the Asuras. Their brows furrowed and their faces became contorted.
Then, a great effulgence emerged from the face of the extremely furious Chakrapani Shri Vishnu. Similarly, a mighty radiance emerged from the bodies of Brahma, Shankar, Indra, and other Devas. All of it merged into one.
That mass of great effulgence appeared like a blazing mountain. The Devas saw its flames spreading throughout all directions.
There was no comparison to the radiance that emerged from the bodies of all the Devas. Upon gathering, it transformed into the form of a woman and appeared to pervade all three worlds with its light.
The effulgence of Lord Shankar manifested as the Devi’s face. The radiance of Yamaraja manifested as the hair on her head. The effulgence of Shri Vishnu Bhagwan manifested as her arms.
The radiance of the Moon manifested as her two breasts, and the radiance of Indra manifested as the central part (waist). The radiance of Varuna manifested as her thighs and calves, and the radiance of the Earth manifested as her hip region.
The radiance of Brahma manifested as her two feet, and the radiance of the Sun manifested as her toes. The radiance of the Vasus manifested as the fingers of her hands, and the radiance of Kubera manifested as her nose.
The Devi’s teeth manifested from the radiance of Prajapati, and her three eyes manifested from the radiance of Agni.
Her eyebrows manifested from the radiance of Sandhya (dusk), and her ears from the radiance of Vayu (wind). Similarly, the auspicious Devi manifested from the radiance of other Devas as well.
Thereafter, seeing the Devi who manifested from the mass of effulgence of all the Devas, the Devas, who were tormented by Mahishasura, were greatly pleased.
Lord Shankar, the wielder of the Pinaka (bow), drew a trident from his own trident and gave it to her; then Lord Vishnu also created a discus from his own discus and offered it to the Goddess.
Varuna also presented a conch, Agni gave her a shakti (spear), and Vayu gave her a bow and two quivers filled with arrows.
At the same time, the great sages, humbled with devotion, offered prayers to her. The earth was pressed down by the weight of her feet. A line was drawn across the sky by the crown on her forehead, and the twang of her bow agitated the seven underworlds.
The Goddess stood covering all directions with her thousands of arms. Thereafter, a battle broke out between her and the demons.
All directions began to glow with the striking of various types of weapons. The great demon named Chiksura was the commander of Mahishasura’s army.
He began to fight with the Goddess. Chāmara also started fighting, bringing the fourfold army of other demons. The great demon named Udagra came with sixty thousand charioteers and engaged in battle.
The demon named Mahahanu began to fight with a crore of charioteers. Asiloma, the great demon whose hair was sharp like a sword, arrived at the battlefield with five crore charioteer soldiers.
The demon named Bāṣkala, surrounded by sixty lakh charioteers, also fought in that battlefield. The demon named Parivārita, accompanied by many troops of elephant and horse riders and an army of one crore charioteers, began to fight. The demon named Biḍāla, surrounded by five billion charioteers, engaged in battle. Besides these, thousands of other great demons, along with armies of chariots, elephants, and horses, began to fight with the Goddess there.
Mahishasura himself stood in that battlefield, surrounded by crores of thousands of chariots, elephants, and horses. Those demons were fighting the Goddess by striking with weapons like the Tomara, Bhindipāla, Shakti, Mūsala, Khaḍga (sword), Parashu (axe), and Paṭṭisha. Some demons struck her with the Shakti weapon, and some threw the Pāsha (noose).
And some other demons attempted to kill the Goddess by striking with swords. The Goddess, filled with anger, playfully cut off all those weapons of the demons by showering her own weapons. There was not the slightest sign of effort or fatigue on her face; the gods and sages praised her, and the revered Goddess showered weapons on the bodies of the demons. The lion, the vehicle of the Goddess, also roared with anger, shaking the hair of its neck and moving through the army of the Asuras as if a forest fire was spreading in the woods. All the breaths the Goddess Ambikā exhaled while fighting the demons on the battlefield instantly manifested as hundreds and thousands of Gaṇas (attendants), who began to confront the Asuras with weapons like the Parashu, Bhindipāla, Khaḍga, and Paṭṭisha.
The Ganas, empowered by the Devi’s strength, began to destroy the demons, playing drums, conches, and other musical instruments.
In that grand festival of battle, many Ganas were playing the Mridanga. Thereafter, the Devi slaughtered hundreds of great demons with her trident, mace, showers of power, and sword, etc. She rendered many unconscious and then slew them with the terrifying sound of her bell.
She bound many demons with a noose and dragged them across the ground. Many demons were severed into two pieces by the blow of her sharp sword.
Many, wounded by the strike of her mace, fell asleep on the ground. Many, severely injured by the blow of her pestle, began to vomit blood. Some demons fell in heaps on the earth because their chests were split by a pike. In that battlefield, the backs of many demons were broken by the shower of arrows.
The demon hordes, who swooped like eagles and tormented the gods, began to lose their lives. Some had their arms torn apart. Many had their necks cut off. The heads of many demons were chopped off and fell. The bodies of some were split in the middle. Many great demons fell to the earth with their thighs severed. The Devi tore many into two pieces, leaving them with one arm, one leg, and one eye. Even after their heads were cut off, many demons rose up again and, only in the form of trunks (Kabandha), took excellent weapons in hand and continued to fight with the Devi. Other Kabandhas danced to the rhythm of the battle drums.
Many headless trunks ran with swords, Shaktis, and Rish*tis in their hands, while other great demons challenged the Devi to battle, shouting, ‘Stop! Stop!’ The ground where that fierce battle took place was so covered with the chariots, elephants, horses, and corpses of demons struck down by the Devi that it became impossible to move there.
So much blood was shed from the bodies of elephants, horses, and demons in the demon army that soon, large rivers of blood began to flow there.
Jagadamba destroyed the massive army of demons in an instant—just as fire consumes a heavy pile of grass and wood in a few moments.
And that lion too, shaking the hair of his neck and roaring loudly, seemed to snatch the life out of the bodies of the demons.
There, the attendants of the Goddess also fought such a battle with those great demons, that the gods standing in the sky were very pleased with them and showered flowers.
Thus ends the second chapter of the Devi Mahatmya, titled ‘The Slaughter of Mahishasura’s Army,’ which is part of the story of the Savarnika Manvantara in the sacred Markandeya Purana.
