Vaishṇavī and Mahishāsura
This account is told in chapters 89 to 93 of the Varāha Purāṇa. Vaishṇavī is the Vishṇu-śakti, the red form of the Tri-śakti born from the joint gaze of the Trimūrti. She has twenty arms. She fought the asura Mahisha in a war of ten thousand divine years and killed him on the peak of Śataśṛṅga. The account also tells how Mahisha was born, and how Nārada set the conflict moving.
How Mahisha was born
Long ago, in the first creation, a ṛshi named Supārśva arose from the primal waters. He was a friend of Sārasvata Maharshi. His son, Sindhu-dvīpa, had great tejas (radiance) and courage. Sindhu-dvīpa did hard tapas (austerity) without food in the great city of Māhishmatī. While he did this tapas, a daughter was born to him. She was named Māhishmatī, as beautiful as a daughter of the devas, and she was the elder sister of Vipracitti.
One day this Māhishmatī went with her friends into the forest āśrama of a ṛshi named Ambaru, on the slopes of Mandara-parvata. The forest was full of sweet-smelling trees: champaka, gaja-nimba, sandal, sāla and sarala. She wanted to play and to frighten the ṛshi. She and her friends took the form of female buffaloes (mahishīs). The ṛshi saw everything through his jñāna-netra (eye of knowledge) and was angry. He gave her a śāpa (a curse): “You came to frighten me in the form of a mahishī, O doer of pāpa. You shall stay a buffalo for a hundred years.”
Māhishmatī was shaking with fear. She fell at his feet and begged for a way out. The ṛshi felt compassion and said: “O good one, you will have a son even in this form, and through that birth the śāpa will end.” He added: “My word is not false.”
Māhishmatī, still in the form of a mahishī, went to the holy bank of the Narmadā, where Sindhu-dvīpa had done his tapas. There she saw a daitya maiden named Indumatī, who was bathing in the water. The great tapasvin Ambaru saw her and let his śukra (seed) fall into a stone vessel nearby. Māhishmatī saw it and said to her friends, “I will drink this water.” She drank the ṛshi’s śukra, became with child, and gave birth to a son. This was the mighty Mahisha. He had great understanding, huge strength and courage, and he supported the line of Brahmā. He became the lord of the asuras who crushed the armies of the devas.
Nārada carries the news
Meanwhile Vaishṇavī, the rajas form of the Tri-śakti, had gone to Mandara-giri. She took the kaumāra-vrata (vow of maidenhood) and sat in tapas alone. By the power of her tapas she had made a wonderful divine city on the mountain. It was full of hundreds of kanyās (maidens) who served her: Vidyutprabhā, Chandrakānti, Sūryakānti, Gambhīrā, Chārukeśī, Sujātā, Muñjakeśinī, Ghṛtāchī, Urvaśī and hundreds more. These kanyās did pūjā to the Devī Vaishṇavī, carrying nooses (pāśa) and goads (aṅkuśa), as she sat on her lion-throne.
Nārada was travelling through the worlds from Brahma-loka. He came to this city and was received with great honour. He saw Vaishṇavī and could not speak for wonder. Then he said: “What beauty! What tejas! What steadiness! What youth! What freedom from desire! Among devas, gandharvas, siddhas, yakshas, kinnaras and rākshasas I have never seen such a form.”
He left quickly and flew to the city of the daitya king Mahisha. It stood in the middle of the ocean, bright with gardens of jewels. Mahisha received Nārada with honour. Nārada described Vaishṇavī in full: “O king of the asuras, listen closely. There is a jewel of a maiden of whom you must hear. Through boons she has mastered all the three worlds, with everything that moves and does not move. I have wandered through all the worlds and never seen such a maiden. Devas, gandharvas, ṛshis, siddhas, chāraṇas and the chiefs of the rākshasas all stand guard before her and serve her. But hear this: she can be won only by one who conquers the chief of the devas.” With these words Nārada left.
Council of war and the defeat of the devas
Mahisha called his eight great ministers: Praghasa, Vighasa, Śaṅkhakarṇa, Vibhāvasu, Vidyunmāli, Sumāli, Varjanya and Alaṃśarma. He told them he wished to win Vaishṇavī. The ministers advised him to send a dūta (messenger) first and, if needed, to win her by war. Vidyunmāli was chosen as the dūta and sent to the city of Vaishṇavī. Meanwhile Vighasa advised the whole assembly of dānava chiefs to make ready their armies of four kinds (chatur-aṅga) and attack the devas.
Mahisha rode a great maddened elephant and led his huge army towards Meru. He attacked the city of Indra and drove Devendra and all the devas out of their home. A great and crowded battle broke out. Eight daityas overpowered the eight Vasus. Twelve daityas overpowered the twelve Ādityas. They were Bhīma, Dhvaṃksha, Dhvastakarṇa, Śaṅkukarṇa, Vajrakāya, Vidyunmāli, Rakshāksha, Bhīmadaṃshṭra, Vidyujjihva, Mahākāya, Dīrghabāhu and Kṛtānta. Eleven daityas overpowered the eleven Rudras. Mahisha himself fought Devendra face to face. All of svarga (heaven) thundered. In the end the devas, beaten by spears (śūla), paṭṭiśa and clubs (mudgara), fled in disorder to Brahma-loka.
Vaishṇavī rises to battle
The dūta reached the city of Vaishṇavī and told her of Mahisha’s wish. Her doorkeeper Jayā sent him away firmly: “This Devī has taken the kaumāra-vrata for all time. None of us will be yours. Leave quickly, before something bad happens to you here.”
Then Nārada came back to Vaishṇavī, dancing with joy, and said: “O Mother! Mahisha has defeated the devas. They sent me to tell you and to beg you to rise and destroy that asura.” Vaishṇavī at once told all her kanyās to be ready.
Mahisha’s armies came pouring towards her city. The kanyās went out with swords, shields and bows. In a moment they cut down the whole army of four kinds. Heads were split, and chests were torn open by fierce beasts. The few who were left ran back to Mahisha, screaming. Mahisha was furious. He took up his club and charged forward himself.
When Vaishṇavī saw him rushing at her, she took twenty arms. In them she held a bow, a sword, a śakti spear, arrows, a śūla, a club (gadā), an axe (paraśu), a drum (ḍamaru), a great bell (mahāghaṇṭā), a śataghnī, an iron ball (lauha-guḍa), a bhuśuṇḍi, an īṭā, a mortar (ulūkhala), a cakra, a bhindipāla, a staff (daṇḍa), a noose (pāśa), a banner (dhvaja) and a lotus (padma). She mounted her lion and put on armour. She called on Rudra, the cause of dissolution, who has the bull on his banner. He appeared before her of his own accord. She bowed to him and said: “I shall conquer all these daityas. O Deva-deva, Sanātana! It is enough that you stand near.”
The war of ten thousand years
The fight that followed lasted ten thousand divine years. Mahisha was protected by a vara (a boon) from Brahmā that no male being could destroy him. He fought, drew back, came forward and withdrew again. The whole brahmāṇḍa shook from the force of the war. At last, after this very long time, Vaishṇavī climbed the great mountain Śataśṛṅga. She crushed Mahisha under her feet and drove her śūla through him. She cut off his head with her sword (khaḍga). As the weapon struck, a purusha came out of Mahisha’s body and went up to svarga.
The stuti of the devas
Brahmā and all the devas saw that Mahisha was dead. They gathered with glad hearts and praised Vaishṇavī. Their stuti (hymn of praise) included these words:
O Devī whose truth cannot be known! O Devī who shows herself as fearful! O victorious mother! O Mother who establishes the final teaching! O three-eyed one! O one with faces on all sides! Namaskāra to you!
O Mother! You are vidyā and avidyā, victory and the one to be honoured. You have slain Mahishāsura. You are present everywhere. You are the ruler of all the devas. The whole world is your form. O Vishṇu-śakti! I bow to you!
O Devī of the pure vow of sattva, O fierce one, O one in the form of night! You give wealth and siddhi (perfection). You are vidyā and avidyā, the nature of amṛta, the form of blessing, carrying the śaktis of Śaṅkara, Vishṇu and Brahmā. All the worlds bow to you.
Vaishṇavī was pleased and gave the devas a vara: those who recite this stuti with bhakti (devotion) will receive all that they wish. She stayed on the mountain and sent all the devas back to their own homes.
Sources
- Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 89–93 (Adhyāyas 89–93)