Mahishāsura Vadha (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa)

Mahishāsura was the buffalo-asura, the lord of the asuras. He won the three worlds and drove out the devas. From the anger of the devas the Devī was formed, with the weapons of all the devas in her hands. She slew Mahishāsura after he had changed through many forms. This is the second great episode of the Devī Māhātmya.

Mahishāsura takes svarga

Mahishāsura had done fierce tapas (austerity) and won great varas (boons). These made him unbeatable by any male being in the three worlds. Sure of this protection, he raised huge armies and made war on the devas.

The battle between the asuras and the armies of Indra went on for a hundred divine years. At the end, the forces of Mahishāsura won. Indra was thrown down from his seat. The eight lokapālas (guardians of the directions) were stripped of their places in svarga and driven out. They are Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera and Īśāna. Mahishāsura took the seat of Indra himself and ruled as lord of the three worlds.

The devas were shamed. They wandered on the earth, with no soma and no share in the yajñas. In despair they went first to Brahmā. Brahmā led them to Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva. Before these two, the devas told the whole story of how Mahishāsura had taken their homes, their duties and their honour.

The Devī is born from the teja of the devas

As Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva listened, great anger rose in each of them, and at the same moment in all the devas gathered there. The anger did not fade into the air. From the body of each deva a blazing column of teja (radiance) streamed out. The teja of all the devas flowed together into one huge mountain of light. From this joined teja the form of the Devī appeared.

Her body was made from the power of every deva:

  • her face from the teja of Śiva
  • her arms from the teja of Vishṇu
  • her feet from the teja of Brahmā
  • her waist from the teja of Indra
  • her legs from the teja of Varuṇa
  • her hair from the teja of Yama
  • her breasts from the teja of Candra
  • her hips from the teja of the earth
  • her toes from the teja of Sūrya

Every part of her form was a divine power made visible.

After she was born, she was armed. Each deva gave his strongest weapon:

  • Śiva gave her a triśūla (trident), drawn from his own
  • Vishṇu gave her a cakra, split from his own Sudarśana
  • Varuṇa gave her his śaṅkha (conch) and pāśa (noose)
  • Yama gave her his daṇḍa (staff)
  • Agni gave her a blazing śakti (spear)
  • Vāyu gave her a bow and two quivers full of arrows
  • Indra gave her a vajra and the great bell from the neck of Airāvata
  • Kubera gave her a cup filled to the brim with divine wine
  • Brahmā gave her his kamaṇḍalu (water-pot) and rosary
  • Kāla (Time) gave her a khaḍga (sword) and a shield
  • Viśvakarma gave her a shining paraśu (axe) and an unbreakable kavaca (armour) set with jewels
  • the ocean gave her garlands of lotuses that never fade, and fine garments
  • Himāvān gave her a fine lion to ride

So the Devī stood fully formed and fully armed, and her splendour filled the three worlds. Her great roar of laughter shook the sky and the earth. The mountains trembled and the oceans rose. The devas were glad and threw flowers over her.

The battle

Mahishāsura heard the roar that shook the three worlds. At once he sent his generals with huge armies to find and destroy this new power.

General Cikshura came first, with a sea of foot-soldiers, horsemen, chariots and elephants. The Devī met them with terrible strength. Her lion leapt among the elephants, and the sound of her bowstring filled the sky like thunder. She slew the armies in waves. Wherever her weapons fell, mountains of dead asuras rose.

She drank wine and her eyes turned red with joy in battle. She laughed as she fought, with the laughter of an unbeatable Śakti at play. Cikshura and the other generals fell one after another. Wave after wave of the armies of Mahisha was wiped out.

The fight and death of Mahishāsura

At last Mahishāsura himself came onto the field. His huge buffalo form shook the earth. He attacked the Devī with fierce force. She struck him and wounded him.

He changed form and became a great lion, and charged. She struck the lion. He took the form of a man with a sword. She wounded him again. He became a huge elephant and charged like a mountain in motion. She struck the elephant too. Through all his changes, the Devī met each form with the right weapons and stayed calm.

Last of all, Mahisha went back to his own buffalo form and charged. The Devī leapt on him and pressed her foot on his neck, pinning him to the ground. Even then he struggled. His true form, a man of dark splendour, began to come out of the buffalo body. But while he was half out, still caught in the animal form, the Devī pierced his neck with her triśūla and cut off his head with her khaḍga. Mahishāsura fell.

The stotra of the devas

The devas gathered and offered the Devī a great stotra of thanks. They praised her as:

  • Caṇḍikā, the fierce one who destroys what must be destroyed
  • Ambikā, the mother of all
  • Mahāmāyā, whose māyā fills all creation
  • the ādhāra (support) of all that exists, without whom nothing stands
  • the cause of creation (sṛshṭi), of keeping (sthiti) and of dissolution (laya)
  • the supreme Śakti beyond thought and beyond speech, yet present in all things

They asked her to guard the three worlds always, and to come to their help whenever adharma rises again. She accepted their prayers and gave the devas back their places.

In the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa she is called Caṇḍikā, Durgā and Ambikā.

The Umā Saṃhitā account

The Umā Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa (Chapter 46) tells this episode too. It names Mahishāsura as the son of Rambhāsura (Rambha). In it the devas are defeated, Brahmā leads them to Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva, and the joined teja forms the Devī.

The Umā Saṃhitā gives more body parts and the devas they come from:

  • face: Śiva
  • hair: Yama
  • arms: Vishṇu
  • breasts: Candra
  • waist: Indra
  • thighs: Varuṇa
  • hips: Bhūmi
  • feet: Brahmā
  • toes: Sūrya
  • nose: Kubera
  • teeth: Prajāpati
  • the three eyes: Agni
  • eyebrows: Saṃdhyā
  • ears: Vāyu

The Umā Saṃhitā names this appearance Mahālakshmī-prādurbhāva, the appearance of Mahālakshmī.

In the Umā Saṃhitā, Mahishāsura changes form in this order: buffalo, lion, warrior with sword and shield, elephant, and back to buffalo. He dies with the foot of the Devī on his neck and his body half out of the buffalo. She pierces him with the śūla and cuts off his head with her sword.

Sources

  • Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 82–83
  • Śiva Purāṇa, Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 46