Manifestation of the Goddess from the Divine Radiance of the Devas and Destruction of Mahishasura’s Army
Maharishi Medha said – In ancient times, a terrible war was fought between the Devas and the Asuras for a full hundred years, with Devaraj Indra leading the Devas. In that war, the army of the Devas was defeated, and after conquering them all, Mahishasura took over the position of Indra. Following their defeat, the Devas took Prajapati Shri Brahma with them and went to the place where Lord Shankar was present. They narrated the entire story of their defeat to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shankar. They said, “O Lord! Mahishasura has seized the powers and positions of Surya, Chandra, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Varuna and the other Devas, and has placed himself in authority over them all.”
He has driven all the Devas out of Swarga, and they are now wandering upon the Earth like ordinary human beings. We have told You everything about the deeds of the Daityas and have come to Your refuge so that You may find a way to destroy them. Hearing the words of the Devas, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shankar became filled with great anger towards the Asuras. Their brows tightened and their eyes became red with rage. From the face of Lord Vishnu emerged an immense divine radiance, and in the same way brilliant Tejas emerged from Lord Shankar, Brahma, Indra and the other Devas. All that radiance then united into one blazing mass, appearing like a mountain of fire.
The Devas saw that flames from this radiant mountain spread in every direction, and the Tejas that had emerged from their bodies could not be compared with any ordinary light. When all this divine energy gathered at one place, it took the form of a Goddess whose brilliance seemed to illuminate all three worlds. From the Tejas of Lord Shankar, Her face appeared. From the Tejas of Yamaraj came Her hair. From the radiance of Lord Vishnu came Her arms. From the Tejas of Chandra came Her two breasts. From the radiance of Indra came Her thighs and calves, while the Tejas of the Earth formed Her hips. From Brahma’s radiance came Her two feet, and from the Tejas of Surya came the toes of Her feet.
From the radiance of the Vasus came the fingers of Her hands, from the Tejas of Kubera came Her nose, from the radiance of Prajapati came Her teeth, and from the Tejas of Agni came Her eyes. From the radiance of Sandhya came Her eyebrows, and from the Tejas of Vayu came Her ears. In this way, the Divine Goddess manifested.
The Devas, who had been defeated by Mahishasura, became extremely joyful upon seeing the Goddess. Lord Shankar produced a Trishul from His own Trishul and offered it to Her. Lord Vishnu produced a Chakra from His own Sudarshan Chakra and gave it to the Goddess. Varuna offered Her a Shankha. Agni gave Her a Shakti weapon, and Vayu presented Her with a bow and arrows. Devaraj Indra, the thousand-eyed one, created a Vajra from his own thunderbolt and gave it to Her. He also removed a bell from Airavata, his divine elephant, and offered it to the Goddess. Yamaraj gave Her a staff from his Kaladanda, and Varuna offered Her a Pasha.
Prajapati gave the Goddess a crystal Mala, and Brahma offered Her a Kamandalu. Surya filled every pore of Her body with the brilliance of his rays. Kala gave Her a shining shield and sword. She was also presented with a radiant necklace and divine garments, together with a celestial Chudamani, two earrings, bracelets, a shining crescent ornament, armlets, anklets, a beautiful ornament for Her neck and jewel-studded rings for Her fingers. Vishwakarma gave Her an axe along with many kinds of weapons and an impenetrable armour. He also offered garlands of beautiful lotuses that would never fade, while the Ocean offered Her a magnificent lotus flower.
Himalaya presented the Goddess with a lion as Her Vahana and offered Her many kinds of precious gems. Yaksharaj Kubera gave Her a vessel filled with Madhu, while Sheshnag presented Her with a precious serpent necklace adorned with priceless jewels. In the same way, the other Devas honoured Her by offering ornaments and divine weapons. The Goddess then let out a mighty roar. The sky echoed with the terrifying sound of Her voice. Her powerful Simhanad could not be contained within the heavens; the sky itself seemed too small before Her. The tremendous echo shook the entire universe. The oceans trembled, the Earth shook and all the mountains began to move.
Filled with joy, the Devas said to the lion-riding, all-pervading Goddess, “Victory to You, O Devi!” The Maharishis also bowed with devotion and praised Her. Seeing the three worlds thrown into turmoil, the Daityas rose with their armies and prepared their weapons. Mahishasura’s anger knew no bounds. Filled with fury, he exclaimed, “What is this terrible disturbance?” He then rushed with his army towards the direction from which the tremendous roar had come. When he reached there, he saw the Goddess shining so brilliantly that Her radiance illuminated all three worlds.
Under the weight of Her feet, the Earth seemed to sink. The crown upon Her head appeared to draw a line across the sky, and the twang of Her bow shook all beings. The Goddess stood there with thousands of arms extending in every direction. Then a fierce battle began between Her and the Daityas, and the entire sky became illuminated by countless weapons.
Chikshura, the mighty Asura and commander of Mahishasura’s army, advanced and began fighting the Goddess. Chamara also entered the battle with a vast fourfold army. The great Daitya Udagra came with sixty thousand mighty warriors. The Asura Mahahanu arrived with one crore chariot warriors. Asiloma entered the battle with five crore soldiers. Vashkala came with sixty lakh Asuras. Vidal stood ready to fight with one crore chariot warriors. In addition to them, thousands of other Asuras advanced with elephants and horses. Finally, Mahishasura himself arrived with crores of chariots, elephants and horses and began battling the Goddess.
The Asuras attacked the Goddess in the battlefield with Tomaras, Bhindipalas, Shakti weapons, maces, swords, axes and Pattishas. Some hurled spears while others launched various weapons. Then all the Daityas rushed towards the Goddess with swords in their hands, trying to kill Her. But the Goddess, filled with righteous anger, effortlessly shattered all their weapons as though it were merely play. The Rishis and Devas then began praising Her, while She joyfully continued showering weapons upon the bodies of the Asuras.
The lion, the Vahana of the Goddess, also became filled with fury and moved through the Daitya army like a forest fire spreading through dry woodland. As the Goddess fought, every breath She released in anger instantly transformed into hundreds and thousands of divine Ganas. Armed with axes, Bhindipalas, swords, Pattishas and other weapons, these Ganas began fighting the Daityas. Empowered by the Shakti of the Goddess, they destroyed the Asuras while beating drums, blowing conches and playing Mridangas.
The Goddess then destroyed thousands of Asuras with Her Trishul, Gada, Shakti, Khadga and other divine weapons. Some were sent to Yamaloka merely by the terrifying sound of Her bell. Some Asuras were bound with the Pasha and dragged across the Earth. Others were cut into pieces with Her sword, while many were struck down by blows from Her mace. Some Daityas, wounded by the Musala, began vomiting blood, while others fell upon the Earth after their chests were pierced by spears. Many had their bodies shattered by arrows.
The Daityas who had tormented the Devas were cut down in great numbers. Some had their arms severed, some their necks, while the heads of others rolled far across the battlefield. Some were cut through the middle, while others lost their thighs and fell to the ground. Astonishingly, some rose again even after losing their heads or legs and continued fighting the Goddess with weapons in their hands. Some Daityas danced upon the battlefield to the sound of war drums, while headless bodies continued fighting with weapons. Again and again, the Asuras challenged the Goddess, shouting, “Stop! Stop!” and calling Her to battle.
The battlefield where this terrible war took place became filled with broken chariots, elephants, horses and the bodies of slain Asuras. Rivers of blood flowed through the Daitya army. In this way, the Goddess destroyed the enormous Asura force in a very short time, just as fire consumes a great heap of dry grass and wood. Her lion, shaking the hair of its mane and roaring loudly, moved among the bodies of the Asuras as though searching out their remaining life-force. When the Ganas of the Goddess fought the Daityas in this manner, the Devas became filled with joy and showered flowers upon them from the heavens.
Jai Ho Mahishasura Mardini Ki
Jai Ho Sherawali Maa Ki