Dūṣaṇāsura

Dūṣaṇāsura was an asura who terrorised the brāhmaṇas (the Vedic priestly community) of Avantī, the city now called Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. He drove out all Vedic practice and put his own harsh rule over the region.

His name means “the defiler” or “the one who pollutes”. He attacked the sacred practice of dharma. Bhagavān Śiva destroyed him. Bhagavān Śiva came out as Mahākāla from the pārthiva liṅga (a liṅga made of earth) that four brāhmaṇa brothers of Avantī were worshipping.

What he did

Dūṣaṇāsura did not only want worldly power. He aimed at the yajñas (fire rituals), the recitation of the Vedas and the worship of Bhagavān Śiva, and he tried to destroy all three.

He terrorised the brāhmaṇas of Avantī. He broke or ended all their religious observances and ruled against dharma. The brāhmaṇas could not openly resist him, and they suffered under his rule for a long time.

The four brothers and the end of Dūṣaṇāsura

Four brāhmaṇa sons of Avantī refused to give up their pūjā of the pārthiva liṅga. Their names are Devapriya, Priyamedha, Sukṛta and Dharmavāhi. They refused even when Dūṣaṇāsura threatened them directly. He then moved to kill them himself.

At that moment the pārthiva liṅga burst open. Bhagavān Śiva came out as the fearsome Mahākāla, the master of Great Time and Death. Dūṣaṇāsura was destroyed at once, and his army was scattered.

The place where he was destroyed became the Mahākāleśvara Jyotirliṅga at Avantī.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 16