Śumbha-Niśumbha Vadha (Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa)

Śumbha and Niśumbha were two brothers of the daitya line who won a vara (a boon) from Brahmā and then took over the three worlds. The devas went to Devī for help. Devī appeared as Kauśikī, and in a long war she and her forms slew the brothers and their armies. The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Skanda 5, Chapters 21 to 31. It then goes on to the account of King Suratha and the merchant Samādhi, Chapters 32 to 34.

The rise of Śumbha and Niśumbha

Śumbha and Niśumbha were born in the dānava line and came to the earth from Pātāla. They went to the holy tīrtha of Pushkara and did severe tapas together for thousands of years, sitting in one āsana (posture) and living without food or water. Brahmā appeared before them and offered a vara. They asked to be immortal. Brahmā told them that was beyond any vara he could give. They then asked for the next best thing: that no man, no animal (paśu) and no bird (pakshi) should be able to kill them. Brahmā gave this vara and left.

The brothers went back with their armies, made Śukrācārya their purohita (priest), and set up their kingdom. Then they set out to conquer the three worlds. Niśumbha attacked Indra’s svarga. Indra struck Niśumbha with his vajra and brought him down for a time, but Śumbha came and drove all the devas from the field. He took Indra’s elephant Airāvata, the cow Kāmadhenu, the tree Kalpataru, the divine treasure of Kubera, the duties of all the lokapālas (guardians of the directions), and even the devas’ share in every yajña. The devas lost their offices in svarga and honours and wandered through the mountains and forests. (Skanda 5, Chapter 21)

The devas turn to Devī on the Himālaya

Humbled and wandering, the devas went to Bṛhaspati for advice. He reminded them of Devī’s promise after the battle with Mahishāsura: “Whenever you are in trouble, remember me, and I will come.” He told them to go to the Himālaya and praise Devī with the Māyābīja mantra. The devas went to the great mountain and praised Devī with devotion.

They called her the mother of the universe and the power behind all creation, the śakti without whom Brahmā cannot create, Vishṇu cannot protect and Śiva cannot dissolve. They called on her as Smṛti, Dhṛti, Mati, Viśvagati, Karuṇā, Dayā, Śraddhā and every divine quality in person. They said that all their own powers came from her. (Skanda 5, Chapter 22)

Kauśikī appears and Pārvatī becomes Kālikā

Pleased by the praise of the devas, Parādevī came out of Pārvatī’s body as Kauśikī. After this, Pārvatī’s body turned dark and fearsome, and from then on she was called Kālikā, also Kālarātrī. The two forms, bright Kauśikī and dark Kālikā, went together as the great war began.

Kauśikī appeared in a beautiful garden near the Himālaya. She sat on her lion and sang with wonderful sweetness. Even the animals gathered round her and stood still. Śumbha’s scouts, Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa, found her and hurried to tell Śumbha: “There is a woman on the Himālaya without equal. She is more beautiful than anything we have seen in the three worlds. You have won all the gems of the universe. This is the greatest gem of all.” (Skanda 5, Chapter 23)

The messengers and the refusals

Śumbha sent his minister Sugrīva to ask for her hand. Kauśikī admitted Śumbha’s power, but she answered with the condition she had made in her youth: only the one who defeats her in battle can be her husband. She was not turning him down; she was stating a condition. Sugrīva carried this back to Śumbha, who was both amused and angry.

Śumbha then sent Dhūmralochana with an army of six thousand to bring her by force. Dhūmralochana first argued and then threatened. Kālikā, the dark form beside Kauśikī, answered with one huṃkāra (a fierce sound-seed), and he was burnt to ashes. The lion drove off and killed the rest of the army. (Skanda 5, Chapters 23 to 25)

Śumbha then asked Niśumbha for advice. Niśumbha said to send Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa. Śumbha agreed and told them: bring her gently if you can, and by force if she resists. Do not hurt her, but kill the dark Kālikā who is with her if you must.

The slaying of Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa, and the name Cāmuṇḍā

Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa came with a huge army and once more tried to win Devī over with words. She rejected their arguments, and battle began. As the fight grew fiercer and arrows poured on Devī from every side, her face darkened with anger. From her forehead came a new, terrible form, the fiercest Kālikā, dressed in tiger skin and garlanded with skulls, destruction itself in person.

This Kālikā swallowed the asura armies whole. She crushed elephants, horses and warriors between her teeth and ate thousands at a time. She tied Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa with a battle-rope and brought them before Ambikā, who ordered: “Kill them.” Kālikā cut off both their heads and drank their blood.

Ambikā then said: “Because you have slain Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa, you will be known in the world as Cāmuṇḍā.” (Skanda 5, Chapter 26)

Raktabīja

Śumbha then sent Raktabīja, a great asura who had a special vara from Śiva: every drop of his blood that fell on the ground would at once become a new warrior just like him. The Saptamātṛkās (the seven divine mothers) had joined the battle: Brāhmaṇī, Vaishṇavī, Māheśvarī, Kaumārī, Indrāṇī, Vārāhī and Nārasiṃhī. They wounded Raktabīja, and from each falling drop hundreds of new Raktabījas rose. Soon the battlefield was full of his copies. Even Ambikā herself, shooting him with arrows, saw that things were growing out of control.

Ambikā ordered Cāmuṇḍā: “Open your mouth wide. I will keep wounding him. You must drink every drop of his blood before it touches the ground. Do not let one drop fall.” They followed this plan. Ambikā cut Raktabīja to pieces one by one, and Cāmuṇḍā drank all the blood. The copies already born were killed and their blood was drunk too. Raktabīja, drained of blood and cut to pieces, died. (Skanda 5, Chapter 29)

The Saptamātṛkās and Śiva’s part

During the battle with Raktabīja, Bhagavān Śiva came to the field himself with the devas. Seeing that Devī needed help, the śaktis of all the great devas took form as the Saptamātṛkās and joined the fight. Each came on her own vehicle and carried the weapons of her deva.

• Brāhmaṇī sat on a haṃsa (goose) and carried a water-pot and prayer beads.
• Vaishṇavī sat on Garuḍa and carried the śaṅkha (conch), cakra, gadā (mace) and padma (lotus).
• Māheśvarī rode the bull Nandī and carried the triśūla (trident).
• Kaumārī sat on a peacock and carried a śakti (spear).
• Indrāṇī rode Airāvata and carried the vajra.
• Vārāhī came in the form of a boar and carried a gadā.
• Nārasiṃhī came in the form of a lion and tore with her claws.

Bhagavān Śiva told Devī to act quickly. He also sent her a new form that arose from her own body, the Śivadūtī, and said: “Go to Śumbha and Niśumbha as my messenger and give them one last warning: give up svarga and go back to Pātāla, or be destroyed.” Śumbha and Niśumbha refused. (Skanda 5, Chapter 28)

The deaths of Niśumbha and Śumbha

Niśumbha chose to fight in person while Śumbha watched. The fight was fierce. Niśumbha and Devī traded blows with bows, swords and maces. Devī struck him again and again, and his armies fell around him. At last Devī took her sword and cut off his head with one blow. Even without a head, his body kept fighting until Devī cut off its arms and legs. Niśumbha died. The rest of his army ran, wailing, to Śumbha’s court. (Skanda 5, Chapter 30)

Śumbha had lost all his commanders and now his brother. He decided to fight to the end. He told himself calmly that all beings are bound by kāla (time), that even the Trimūrti are bound by time, and that he would not run. He came himself to the Himālaya.

When he saw Devī, he was seized at once by kāma (desire) and by the will to fight. He made one last speech. He said that war was not fit for a beautiful woman and that she should yield. Devī answered with a smile and gave the fight to Kālikā. Kālikā and Śumbha fought a fierce duel. Śumbha struck her with a mace and she struck him with swords. Kālikā cut off one of his arms, then the other, then his legs. Even maimed, Śumbha kept rushing forward. Kālikā cut off his head with her sword. Rivers of blood flowed from his body. The devas watching from the sky rejoiced. The remaining dānavas bowed before Devī and went back to Pātāla. (Skanda 5, Chapter 31)

The account of Suratha

After the account of the victory, Vyāsa tells Janamejaya about King Suratha and the merchant Samādhi. This is the frame of the Devī Māhātmya tradition. In the Svārocisha Manvantara, King Suratha was defeated by mleccha enemies, and his ministers went over to the enemy. He wandered alone into the forest and came to the āśrama of the ṛshi Sumedha. There he met the merchant Samādhi, who had been driven from his home by his own ungrateful family. Both were bewildered. They knew in their minds that their attachments were wrong, yet their minds kept going back to what they had lost.

They asked the ṛshi: “Why does moha (delusion) stay even when we know it is delusion?” Sumedha taught them the nature of Mahāmāyā: the same śakti that makes the universe also makes the web of attachment. Even Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva are under her play. He told them how Brahmā and Vishṇu once argued over which of them was supreme. A great Śivaliṅga of light appeared between them, and neither could find its measure. This ended their dispute and showed that Parāśakti is beyond both.

Sumedha then taught them the Devī Navarātra vrata (vow), the nine nights of worship of Śrī Devī, to be kept in the months of Caitra and Āśvayuja. He described the setting up of the yantra, the japa (repetition) of the nine-syllable mantra, the homa with pāyasa (sweet rice cooked with ghee and honey), the daily recital of the Devī’s three narratives, which belong to Mahākālī, Mahālakshmī and Mahāsarasvatī, and the closing devī-visarjana (sending off of Devī). (Skanda 5, Chapters 32 to 34)

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa account

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa also tells the slaying of Śumbha and Niśumbha, in the Devī Māhātmya. In that text Kauśikī comes out of Pārvatī’s body. Cāmuṇḍā arises from Devī’s forehead when she is angry. The Saptamātṛkās are formed of the same śaktis, told in less detail. It includes Devī’s own teaching to Śumbha, the declaration that begins Ekā’ham. It ends with the end of the battle.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 5, Chapters 21 to 34
• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Devī Māhātmya), Chapters 84 to 88