Mahiṣāsuramardinī, Slayer of Mahiṣāsura

Mahiṣāsuramardinī means “the slayer of Mahiṣāsura”. She is the form of Śrī Durgā Devī described in the Setu Māhātmya of the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. She was made from the joined tejas (radiance) of all the devas, among them Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva and Indra. She came to slay Mahiṣāsura, who had won all three worlds. She slew him at the Dharma Puṣkariṇī on the Gandhamādana mountain, and the place became Devīpattana.

Origin from the tejas of the devas

Mahiṣāsura won all three worlds and drove the devas out of svarga (heaven). The devas went to Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva to be set free. All the devas then joined their divine tejas to make a supreme being who held the powers of all of them together. From this joining of tejas came the Mahādevī, Śrī Mahiṣāsuramardinī, the destroyer of Mahiṣāsura.

Each deva gave to her form. Brahmā’s tejas, Viṣṇu’s tejas, Śiva’s tejas and the tejas of all the other devas came together to make her. The devas also gave her their weapons, so that she bore the whole armoury of the divine powers. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 6.

The battle

Śrī Durgā Devī fought a great battle with Mahiṣāsura. The deciding fight took place at the Dharma Puṣkariṇī on the Gandhamādana mountain, in the Setu-kṣetra. There she slew Mahiṣāsura, the asura in buffalo form, and restored the order of the worlds. The three worlds were freed from his rule. Indra and the devas took back their places, and the order of dharma was set up again. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 7.

Devīpattana

The place where Śrī Durgā Devī won this victory came to be called Devīpattana, “the city of the Devī”. This same Devīpattana was later the place from which Bhagavān Rāma started to build Rāmasetu. So the holy ground of her victory over Mahiṣāsura is the very ground from which the bridge to Laṅkā was built. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 7.

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapters 6, 7