Śumbha and Niśumbha

Śumbha and Niśumbha were two asura brothers who won the three worlds. They took from Indra and the devas their share of soma and their places in svarga (heaven). Then Devī appeared in the Himālaya as Ambikā and slew them both. Niśumbha fell in battle. Śumbha fell in the last duel, in which Devī Ambikā spoke the words “Ekā’haṃ”.

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (the Devī Māhātmya) and the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa both tell their story.

Rise and conquest

Śumbha and Niśumbha did great tapas (austerity). From Brahmā they received many varas (boons) that made them almost impossible to defeat for the joined forces of the devas. Protected in this way, they raised huge armies and made war on the three worlds.

The battle was overwhelming. The devas, with Indra and all the lokapālas (guardians of the directions), were beaten and driven from their places in svarga (heaven). Śumbha and Niśumbha shared out the duties and rights of svarga between themselves and their allies. The devas lost their shares in yajña (fire ritual) and in soma, and were left to wander the earth. (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–85)

Desire for Devī

The devas went to the Himālaya and prayed to Devī. She appeared there as Ambikā, full of light and more beautiful than anyone, with a glow that filled the mountain valleys.

Śumbha’s spy saw her and told his king of her wonderful beauty. Śumbha was taken by what he heard. He sent his messenger Sugrīva to Devī Ambikā with an offer: let her agree to be his companion, since he was ruler of the three worlds and deserved only the finest.

Devī Ambikā heard the offer calmly. She answered: “I made a vow long ago that I would accept only one who defeats me in battle and breaks my pride. I will not break this vow. If Śumbha is as mighty as people say, let him come and meet me in battle.”

This answer filled the brothers with rage and began the whole series of battles that followed. (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–85)

Their commanders and their fall

Before they went into battle themselves, Śumbha and Niśumbha sent out their generals one by one.

  • Dhūmrākṣa was sent with huge armies. Devī Ambikā and her lion killed him.
  • Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa were sent to seize Devī Ambikā by force. Cāmuṇḍā, who was born from Devī’s brow, killed them.
  • Raktabīja, the commander whose blood made new warriors, was killed by Devī Ambikā and Cāmuṇḍā acting together.
  • Their whole armies were destroyed wave after wave, with the Saptamātṛkās beside Devī.

Each defeat made the brothers angrier. (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–87)

The death of Niśumbha

Niśumbha fought Devī Ambikā in a great duel. He used all his power and struck at her with terrible weapons. But her śakti (power) did not run out. She overcame him, pierced him and killed him on the battlefield. With Niśumbha’s fall, Śumbha was the last of their great line. (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 87–88)

Śumbha’s last challenge and death

Śumbha was full of rage and grief at his brother’s death. He came onto the battlefield to face Devī Ambikā himself. Their fight was grand and terrible. In the middle of it Śumbha stopped and called out his last challenge: “You rely on the strength of others! The Mātṛkās, Kālī, the śaktis of the devas fight with you. That is not true power.”

Devī Ambikā’s answer is the highest teaching of the whole Devī Māhātmya:

Ekā’haṃ jagati

“I alone am in all the world. Who else is here?”

She then drew back into herself all the Saptamātṛkā-śaktis and every other divine power that had appeared beside her. All those forms melted into her one being. She showed that their many forms were only her own vibhūtis (manifestations) of the one undivided Parāśakti. She killed Śumbha alone, with her own hand. (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 87–88)

The Vāmana Purāṇa account

The Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa says that Śumbha and Niśumbha are sons of Danu and Kaśyapa, so they are dānavas. It gives them a brother, Namuci. Indra killed Namuci with sea-foam charged as a vajra.

In the Vāmana account, the devī they face is Kauśikī. She was born from Pārvatī’s dark kośa (sheath) and was set up in the Vindhya mountains as Vindhyavāsinī.

The events follow a similar pattern to the Mārkaṇḍeya account.

  1. Śumbha sends the messenger Sugrīva.
  2. He sends generals: Dhūmrākṣa with 600 akṣauhiṇīs (army divisions), and Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa. All are defeated.
  3. Raktabīja comes next.
  4. Then Niśumbha.
  5. Last, Śumbha himself.

The Vāmana Purāṇa also records the declarations Kauśikī makes after the victory about her future avatāras. It also says the Sapta Mātṛkās came out directly from the body of Caṇḍikā. (Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 30)

Sources

  • Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–88
  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 30