Brahmānda Mahā Purana
29 - Slaying of Bhandāsura
Agastya said:
1. O highly intelligent sage Hayagrīva, the strength of Mantrini has been described. The slaying of Visanga by Dandanāthā in battle has been described.
2. I wish to hear about the exploits of Shridevi in the course of the battle. After seeing the mishap of his brother, what did Bhanda do, due to the grief thereof?
3. How far was he enthusiastic in fighting the battle? With whom did he fight? After his brothers and sons were killed who were his allies and followers?
Hayagriva said:
4. Listen to this, o highly intelligent one. The narrative of Lalitā is destructive of all sins. It is holy and it yields qualities, (i.e., siddhis like) Animā (minuteness) etc.
5. During the equinoctial periods as well as during the transits of the sun, on holy occasions and during the five Parvan* days, it bestows Siddhis ahd'glory. It destroys all sins.
*viz.: the 8th and 14th Tithi per fortnight. The Full moon and the new moon days. And the sun's passage from one rāšhí (sign of zodiac) to Another.
6. On hearing that there in the battle his brothers had been killed, Bhanda was overwhelmed with great grief. He began to lament loudly.
7. With his hairs dishevelled and scattered, he fell on the ground in a swoon. He did not get any consolation. He became emaciated due to the sorrow for his brother.
8. Again and again he went on lamenting. On being pacified repeatedly by Kutilāksa, he got rid of his sorrow and became very furious.
9-11. His forehead appeared ruthlessly dreadful because the brows were vibrating. His eyes became red like glowing coal. He sighed and breathed like a hissing black serpent. He began to hold his sword again and again in his hand and shook it (threateningly). Suddenly he said to Kutilāksa the chief of entire army. Out of anger, he began to produce Hurhkāra sound. Like the cloud at the time of dissolution, he began to roar.
12-13. "My brothers and sons were killed in battle by that wicked woman with the help of Māyā, I shall put out the great fire of sorrow, for my brothers and .jsons with the liquid blood coming out of the throat of that wajtton woman.
14-18. Go, O Kutilāksa, get the army ready".
After saying this he wore on his che*t a huge and thick coat of mail capable of withstanding the impact of Vajra. On his back he tied two quivers. He whirled the bow when the excessive twanging sound of the string was as hard as the deep breath. Furious like the fire at the destruction of the world, he rushed out of his city.
There were altogether forty excellent generals including Tālajangha and others posted at the eastern gate who were four in number, who had held all kinds of weapons, who wore coats of mail and who were haughty; the thirtyfive generals included Kutilāksa who was the lord of all armies and who was very furious and lastly Bhanda himself.
19-20. Their weapons flashed. Their hairs shone brightly. With brilliant coats of mail, they marched out. There were two thousand Aksauhinis with eightyfive forming the latter half (Rearguard). This army. followed Bhanda in order to suppress the enemy sportingly and collectively when Bhandasura went out fully accompanied by his army, only women remained behind in the city of shūnyaka
21. The lord of Daityas who a great chariot-fighter was and haughty in war, mounted his excellent chariot called Abhila to which a thousand lions were yoked.
22. He hastened with great lustre like the fire of world-destruction whose flames blazed. The name of his sword was Ghātaka. It had the same shape as the Chandrahāsa sword.
23. When the armies moved here and there, dust columns were raised. Being unable to bear their burden, it appeared as though the earth went to the heaven.
24. Some of them who could not be contained on the earth moved ahead along the path of the sky. Some mighty warriors moved on riding on the shoulders of some.
25. Neither in the cordinal points nor on the sphere of the earth nor in the sky could they be contained. They moved on with very great difficulty as though they were addicted by the close contact of one another.
26. Since the pressure was very great, many of the soldiers were crushed and ground into powder by the wheels of chariots. Some were trampled beneath the feet of elephants as they fell on the ground.
27. A loud roar resembling the rumbling sound of the cloud was given out by him who was moving on along with all the soldiers.
28. The universe became torn asunder by that excessively harsh leonine roar coming out of the mouth of Bhanda, the Daitya.
29. The oceans became dried up. The moon and the sun fled. The stars fell down from the sky. The earth began to heave to and fro.
30. The elephants of the cardinal points became frightened. The heaven-dwellers swooned. The camp of the Shaktis became excited on account of a sudden and unexpected fear.
31. In the middle of the battle, Shaktis held their vital breaths with very great difficulty. They took up once again their weapons that had been dropped down with fear before.
32-33. The circular enclosure of fiery rampart that had been calmed down before rose up in flames once again. On account of the leonine roar of the leading Daitya, the twanging sounds of the bows of army generals and the shrieks and sounds of warriors, universe became filled up with sound. Goddess Lalitā decidedly inferred that the Daitya Bhanda had stirred out and so she undertook to fight herself.
34. Considering that the great fight with the Daitya Bhanda, of vicious conduct, was not possible for the other Śhaktis she herself took up the task.
35-38. Her gloriously splendid great chariot named Chakra-rājaratha moved ahead. The four Vedas were its four great wheels.1 The four Purusārthas (the four aims in life i.e., Dharma (virtue), Artha (wealth), Kama (love), and Moksha (liberation from samsāra) were ilS great horses. Bliss was the flag fitted to it. It had nine steps. The deities stationed on the nine steps kept their heavy oows ready drawn. They had more than a Parardha (1 followed by 17 zeroes) of attendants. The chariot was defended from all directions by these who were stationed on all steps. It was ten Yojanas in height and the side of the base was four Yojanas. Thus, the leading chariot Chakrarāja of the great queen shone remarkably as it moved on.
1. As observed in Note 1 on Ch. 19, the chariot of Lalitā symbolizes Vedic religion; the Vedas, Purusārthas etc. are parts of her chariot.
39-41. When it (chakra-rāja-ratha) moved ahead, the other chariots with Shyāmā and Dandanāthā also moved on. The chariot Geyachakra went ahead and Kirichakra was in the rear. The vehicles of the other Shāktis were Parārdhas in number. They were man-lions, camels, donkeys, pythons, deer, birds, horses, elephants, Bherundas, Sharabhas, tigers, Vātamrgas (swift antelopes) etc. and other animals also became her vehicles.
42. Shaktis who repeatedly endeavoured to kill Bhanda and his Asura followers were of multiformed nature. Although the opening of the circular fiery rampart extended to a Yojana in length, it was not sufficient for the outward march of the army.
43. Desirous of an easy exit for all the armies, the Nityā deity named Jvālāmālinikā enlarged the opening further.
44. Then the gloriously splendid mother of the worlds, the great queen of excessive valour and exploits, went out of the fiery city through the excellent opening.
45. The divine Dundubhis (wardrums) sounded. Showers of flowers fell down. The great royal umbrella set with pearls was seen shining brilliantly in the firmament.
46. Pleasingly clear omens indicating the glory of victory occurred in the army of Lalitā. Portentous ill-omens occurr in the army of enemies.
47-48. Thereupon, the battle between the two armies started. As the volleys of arrows spread everywhere, a dense darkness settled above them. As herds of elephants were being killed the drops of blood flowing from them carried away the (severed) heads by which the white umbrellas of the Daityas were concealed.
49. Neither the quarters nor the sky, neither the mountains nor the earth, nothing was seen. Only the dust column was seen increasing in size.
50-54. As the two armies fought with eath other a river of blood flowed.1 The dancing headless bodies appeared like the plants and trees on the banks, on either side. Thousands of tresses of the Daityas appeared like the tender shoots of Saivāla (Moss). The circular white umbrellas shone like the white lotuses. The series of feet of elephants cut by the wheels of chariots or by discuses (of the heroes) appeared like tortoises. The necks and cheeks of the great Daityas killed by Shaktis appeared like the rocky slabs. When the chowries fell down with their handles cut off, they appeared like the foam (in that river of blood). Broken swords of keen edges appeared like the dense thickets of creepers on the banks. The river of blood appeared to be sparkling with pearl chaskets on account of the series of eyes of the Daitya heroes. Hundreds of vehicles of Daityas appeared like hundreds of fishes and crocodiles. Thus, river of blood flowed.
1. It is a good picture of the battlefield-occurring in details in the War-Parvans of the Mbh. and repeated elsewhere in this text also.
55. On the fourth day of the battle, beginning in the morning and extending to two Praharas (six hours) the terrible battle between the two armies ensued causing fear even to the god of Death.
56-58. Thereafter a terrible battle ensued between Shri lalitādevī and Bhanda. It caused a great deal of uproarious tumult in the different quarters due to the excitement of the discharge of missiles and counter missiles. It was extremely terrific on account of Humkāra-s (hissing sounds of defiance) of the soldiers and the twanging sounds of bow-strings as well as due to dreadful arrows which were taken out from quivers, discharged from excellent bows and which were capable of taking away lives.
On account of her dexterity the movements of her lotus-like hands while discharging the arrows were not at all perceived in detail. Listen, O Pot-born sage, listen, I shall describe everything that happened in the battle.
59. When one arrow was fitted to the bow and discharged it became ten when leaving the bow, hundred while moving through space, thousand while falling amidst the army of Daityas and when they came into contact with the bodies of Daityas they developed into crores.
60-61. By means of great arrows the great queen caused very dense darkness, pierced heaven and earth and pierced into the vital parts of the terrible Daityas.
With his eyes turned red on account of anger, Dānava Bhanda showered volleys of arrows on goddess Lalitā.
62. He discharged a great missile named Andhatāmisraka1 (the great darkness). Māheśhvarī dispelled it by the arrow named Mahātarani (the great sun).
1. As stated elsewhere this battle symbolizes the struggle between good and evil forces. The missiles also signify evil forces used' by Bhanda and good forces countered by Lalitā. I give below the list of so-called Astros discharged by Bhanda and destroyed by Lalitā with a counter (good) force.
Astros used by Bhanda and Lalitā
VV. 62-138
Bhanda Lalitā
1. Andha-Tamisraka Mahātarani
(Great darkness) (the great sun)
2. Pākhapaa Gayatri
(Heresy)
3. Andhāstra Chaksusmatta
(Blindness) (Possessionof eye-sight)
4. Śhaktināšha
(Destruction of Shaktis)
5. Antaka Maha-Mrtyunjaya
(god of Death) (lord shiva, conquer of death)
6. Sarvāstra-smrtināšha Dharma
(Destruction of memory of Astras)
7. Bhaya (Fear)
8. Mahirogas Indrastra
(great diseases) Vaifnava (created Achyutha, Ananta, and Govinda-burnt disease by Humkara
9.Ayur-nāiana Kala-samkarsin
(Destructive of Longevity) (Death Controller)
10. Mahāsurastra Durga
(creating great Asuras) (Demon-killing goddess)
like Madhu, Kaitabha etc. with her original weapons.
11. Mūkástra Mahavagvadini
(causing dumbness) (The highly eloquent one)
• The work is popularly known as Saptaiati. It is, however, not mentioned before in this Purāna though the author states: "as formerly explained".
63. Bhanda the great hero discharged the missile Pakkandāstra (Heresy) in the course of battle. For dispelling it, the mother of the universe discharged the missile of Gayatri.
64. Bhanda discharged the missile Andhāstra (Blindness) that was destructive of the vision of Shaktis. The mother subdued it by means of the great- missile Chaksus-mattā (Endowment with eyes.)
65. In the course of great battle, Bhanda discharged the missile named Saktināśha (Destruction of Shaktis. (The goodess) dispelled its pride by the missile of Viśhvāvasu.
66. Bhanda, the extremely infuriated Dänava discharged the missile Antakāstra (with Antaka the god of death as the presiding deity). The goddess destroyed its power by the missile of Mahāmrutyunjaya (with lord Shiva the conqueror of the god of death as the presiding lord)
67. Bhanda discharged the missile named Sarvastrasmrtināia. (Destruction of the memory of all missiles). Chakreshi destroyed its power by means of the missile Dharaná (Retention in memory).
68. Bhanda discharged the missile of Bhaya (fear) that made all Shaktis afraid. Jagadambikā (the mother of the worlds) discharged the missile of Indra that bestowed freedom from fear.
69. The Dānava discharged the missile of Maharogas (great diseases) among the armies of Shaktis. Thereupon pulmonary consumption and thousands of other diseases began to ravage.
70. In order to achieve their eradication and prevention, Lalitā, the great goddess, discharged the great missile of the great Mantra of the three names (of Lord Vishnu).
71. Achyuta, Ananta and Govinda rose up from the missile. By their Hurhkāra alone they burned those diseases and gave (relief and) delight, (to the Shaktis).
72. They bowed down to Maheśhānī. They were employed (by her) to suppress sickness of her devotees in all the three worlds. They went to their own region.
73. Bhanda, the Dānava, discharged the missile Ayumāšhana (Destructive of longevity). The queen discharged the missile in the form of Kalasankarsani (Death controlling).
74-79. Bhanda, the Dānava, discharged the dreadfully powerful missile of Mahāsurăstra. Thereupon, thousands of (Asuras) very powerful with huge bodies rose up from the missile, such as: - Madhu, Kaitabha, Mahisa, Dhūmralochana, the Asuras beginning with Chanda, Munda, Chiksura, Chamara, Raktabīja, Shumbha, Nishumbha, the Kālakeyas of great strength, others too such Asuras named Dhūmra etc. rose from the missile with their hard and powerful weapons, all those excellent Dānavas smashed and crushed the army of Shaktis. They shrieked and howled dreadfully.
Śhaktis, crushed and crumbled by the Daityas, cried aloud "Ha, Hā" (Alas), and sought refuge in Lalitā immediately saying "protect us". Thereupon, Devi became furious. In her fury, she burst into a boisterous laughter of challenge.
80. Thereupon arose a glorious deity named Durgā. She had a cosmic form evolved by the refulgence of all Devas.
81-84. She wielded and wore the following weapons and ornaments viz. the trident given by Śhūlin (Lord Shiva), the discus given by Chakrin (Lord Vishnu), the conch given by Varuna, Shakti (Javelin) given by the Firegod, the bow and the pair of inexhaustible quivers given by Maruts in the course of the great war, the thunderbolt given by Indra, a goblet given by Dhanada (Kubera), the great staff JChāladanda, the noose given by Pāśhadhara (Varuna), a waterpot given by Brahma, a bell given by Airāvata, the sword and the shield given by Mrtyu, the necklace given by the ocean and the ornaments given by Viśhvakarman.
85-86. With her gloriously splendid limbs having ray as brilliant and sparkling as a row of thousand-rayed suns she made all weapons gleam and glitter.
She appeared splendid with other equipments and accoutrements given by others. Thus, riding on her vehicle lion, Nārāyani (goddess Durgā) carried on war.
87-88. Dānavas such as Mahisa and others were struck down by her. She carried on war in the same way as formerly as explained in Chandikāsaptaśhati*, dispelling the haughtiness of Mahisa and others. After completing that difficult task, she bowed down before Lalitā.
89. The wicked Dānava discharged the missile Mükāstra (that of dumbness) among the armies of Śhaktis. The mother of the universe discharged the missile named Mahavägvādini (the great and eloquent one).
90.1 In the course of battle the haughty and ferocious Danava Bhanda (discharged missiles and) created base Asuras who stole away the Vedas, the fund of lores.
1. From V. 90 onwards Bhanda used an Astra for counteracting which God Vishnu had to incarnate. Here the Nine Aoatāras of Vishnu as we know them today are given and not the ones in the body of the Bd. P. (such as Dattātreya etc).
One more point about the Avatāras of Vishnu is that they arise from the nails of the fingers of Lalitā indicating the greatness of Lalitā as compared with Vishnu.
Bhanda Lalitā
(uses the opponent for whom (Incarnation of Vishnu) Vishnu incarnated)
1. Veda-stealing demon the fish-incarnation is implied out of the nail of right hand
thumb.
2. Arnavāstra Tortoise-incarnation supported
Shaktis on its back
3. Hiranyāksa Divine Boar (Varāha)
He killed Hiranyāksa
4. Hiranyakaśhipu Man-Lion (Tore to pieces
Hiranyakaśhipu
5. Balīndra (Bali) Vāmana
6. Sahasrārjuna Paraśhurāma
7. Paulastya (Rāvana) Kadanda Rāma, son of Dasharatha
8. Rājāsura (A great Chaturvyūha (Vāsudeva,
number of demons were Sankarsana, Pradyumna and
born as kings Aniruddha)
9. Kali missile Kalki
(Buddha is not mentioned here)
10. Mahā-Moha shāmbhava
(great delusion)
Then by discharging the Nārāyana, Pāśhupata and Mahākāmeśhvara missiles, the great goddess killed all the soldiers of Bhanda, his 40 Generals, and finally the Asura Bhanda himself.
91-92. Those (Asuras) were turned away by the great queen, by the nail of thumb of her right hand.
Bhanda, the extremely heroic Daitya, discharged Amavāstra (missile of ocean) in the course of the battle. Thereat the army of Shaktis sank down in a flood of uncontrollable waters. Then the primordial tortoise extending to a Yojana in length was born from the nail of the index finger of the right hand of Shri-Lalitādevī.
93. The Shaktis who were supported by him by means of that huge skull-like shell of large area became delighted. They discarded their fear of the Sāgara (sea) missile.
94. The lord then quaffed the entire quantity of water in the ocean.
Then the wicked Dānava discharged the great missile of Hiranyāksa.
95-96. From it thousands of Hiranyākshas were born with clubs as their weapons. On being hurt and killed by them, the armies of the Shaktis became agitated due to great fright in the course of war. They became scattered here and there. Thereupon, a huge white Boar rose up from the nail of the middle finger of the right hand of Śhrī Lalitā. It was like the Kailasa mountain.
97. Crores and crores of those Hiranyākshas were utterly annihilated when they were smashed and crushed as well as torn asunder by that snouted Boar as hard as adamant.
98-100. Thereupon, Bhanda knitted his eyebrows due to great anger. Hiranyas (Hiranyakaśhipus) crores in number were born from his eyebrows. They were as brilliant as the blazing sun. Their weapons too were refulgent and brilliant. They smashed and crushed the army of Shaktis as well as Prahlāda who was as it were the greatest Bliss of the' Shaktis. It was he who became a boy. He was afflicted by Hiranya and so sought refuge in Lalitā. The queen became merciful towards him.
101-104. Then in order to protect Prahlāda who was in the form of Bliss of Shaktis, the great goddess shook the tip of the ring finger of her riglit hand. From it arose Janārdana with the face of a lion and the body of a man beneath the neck. He shook the thick cluster of manes. His three eyes shone. Claws were his weapons. He had the forms of Kāla and Rudra. He made shouts of dreadful boisterous laughs. He had thousand staff-like hands. He was ready to obey the commands of Lalitā. Within a moment, by means of his claws as hard as thunderbolt, he tore up all the Hiranyakaśhipus who originated from the eyebrows of Bhanda.
105. Bhanda, the great Asura, then discharged against the goddess Lalitā the extremely dreadful missile Balindra that was destructive of all deities.
106. For destroying the pride of that missile, hundreds of Vāmanas came out from the highly powerful tip of the small finger of the right hand of the great queen.
107-108. They increased in size every moment. They were very mighty with nooses in their hands. They were born of the tip of small finger of the right hand of the wife of Kāmesha. (i.e., Lalitā). They were highly enthusiastic, and they had huge bodies. They tied with nooses all the Balīndras born of that missile. Thus, they destroyed that missile too.
109. In the course of battle, Bhanda, the Daitya, discharged Haihaya missile. From that were born thousands and crores of Arjunas with thousand hands.
110-111. Arising from the nail of the thumb of the left hand of Śhrī Lalitā and blazing with anger, Rāma of Bhrgu family made the roaring sound of a lion. He tore up these fellows by the sharp edge of his axe. Within a moment he destroyed these Arjunas numbering thousands.
112-113. Thereupon, the infuriated Daitya Bhanda made a hissing huriikāra sound out of anger. From that Humkāra rose (Rāvana) with his sword Chandrahāsa. He was surrounded by Rākshasa-armies numbering a thousand Aksauhinīs. Taking his younger brother Kumbhakarna and his son Meghanāda with him, he smashed the army of Shaktis to a large extent.
114-116. Thereupon, from the nail of the index finger of the left hand of Śhrī Lalitā was born Kodandarāma accompanied by Lakshmana. Matted hair constituted his crown. On his back he had tied up his quiver by means of creepers. He was dark in complexion like the blue lotus. He repeatedly made the twanging sound from his bow.
By means of divine missiles, he destroyed the Rakshasa army in a moment. He crushed Paulastya (i.e., Rāvana) and his brother Kumbhakarna. Lakshmana killed Maghanāda the great hero.
117-118. Dānava Bhanda, then discharged the extremely terrible missile of Dvivida. From it were born many monkeys with reddish-brown eyes. On account of anger their faces became extremely copper coloured. Every one of them was on a par with Hanumān. They destroyed the army of Shaktis. They produced harsh and cruel Krethkāras (shrill sounds).
119-120. Then from the nail of the middle finger of the left hand of Shri Lalitā issued forth Tālāńka with eyes red like mid-day, his middle eye red due to anger. He had tied a blue garment on his body. He was as pure as the Kailāsa mountain. He destroyed all those monkeys born of Dvivida missile.
121-125. The mighty demon discharged the great missile named Rājāsura. From that missile many demoniac kings came out such as Shiśhhupāla, Dantavaktra, Śhhālva, the king of Kāśhhi Paundraka Vasudeva, Rukmī, Dimbhaka, Hamsaka, Sambara, Pralamba, Asura, Bāna, Kamsa, the wrestler Chānūra, Mustika, Utpalashekhara, Arista, Dhenuka Keshī, Kāliya, the twin-Arjunas (Terminalia Arjuna) Pūtanā, Shakata (cart), Trunāvarta and other Asuras, the great hero named Naraka, the Asura Murā who had the form of Vishnu etc. Many of them rose up along with these armies with weapons in their arms.
126-129. In order to destroy all of them the eternal lord (Vishnu) originated from the ring finger of the lotus-like left hand of Shridevi. He made a Chaturvyūha (group of four deities). They became four distinct Beings viz.: Vāsudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. All of them had weapons lifted up. They destroyed all those great Asuras who were in the guise of kings of evil conduct. They had been functioning like a burden on the Earth.
130. When they were destroyed, Asura Bhanda became highly furious. He discharged the dreadful Kali missile that caused violation and transgression of virtue.
131-132. Thereupon, from the Kali missile were born kings Andhras and Pundras, Kirātas, Shabaras, Hūnas and Yavanas who had sinful activities. They were the trans gressors of Vedic injunctions. They were inimical to virtuous activities. They killed living beings. They upset the disciplines of four castes and stages of life and brought about mixture of castes. They had dirty limbs. They smashed and tortured the armies of Lalitā and Śhaktis again and again.
133. Thereupon, Janārdana named Kalki was born of the nail of small finger of sparkling lotus-like left hand of Śhrī Lalitā.
134-136. He was riding on a horse. His glory was bright and brilliant. He made an Apahāsa (boisterous laugh of challenging) by his sound resembling the blow of thunder bolt, the Kirātas swooned and died. Shaktis were delighted. The leaders of ten Avatāras (Incarnations) completed this difficult task, bowed down to Lalitā and stood by with palms joined in reverence. They had been engaged by mother Lalitā to defend virtue and piety in every Kalpa through the births of Fish etc. They then started for Vaikuntha.
137. When all the miraculous missiles were thus destroyed, the evil-minded (Asuras) discharged the missile of Mahāmoha (great delusion and fainting). The Śhaktis. swooned on account of that.
138. By discharging the Sambhava missile (that of Lord (Śhiva) the mother split up the Mahāmoha missile. As the great battle took place thus with the continuous flow of missiles and counter missiles the sun, the lord of rays was about to reach the western mountain (the mountain of setting).
139. Then by means of Nārāyana missile the goddess Lalitāmbikā reduced all Aksauhinīs to ashes, in the course of the battle.
140. Then by the Pashupata missile which had the lustre of the enkindled fire of Destruction of the world the great queen smashed and crushed forty generals.
141-142. The only one left out was the great Asura Bhanda. All the kinsmen of the wicked fellow had already beed killed. He blazed with fury. He was a great demon of much inherent strength and fierce valour. He had caused a great havoc in the entire universe.
The mother Lalitā, the great goddess killed him by means of Mahākāmes'hara missile that had the splendour of a thousand suns.
143-144. His city Śhūnyaka was over-run by the flames of that missile. Suddenly it was completely burned down along with women and children, cowpens, riches and granaries. Only the bare ground remained. Due to destruction of Bhanda the three worlds danced with delight.
145. After carrying out this task of the Devas, Kāmeśhvarī whose conduct was never blame-worthy, who was the ornamental glory of the chariot Śhrīchakrarājaratha, who was the mother of the three worlds, who was equipped with all shining assets and who was endowed with the glory of victory, shone brilliantly.
146. All her soldiers had been subjected to fatigue on account of their work in the battle-field (viz. fighting). They had been burned by the fire of powerful arrows of Bhanda, the Asura. When the sun set, Shri Devatā whose prowess was well-renowned brought them to her camp.
147. O leading ascetic, if anyone reads even once (the narrative) of the slaying of Bhanda, the Dānava, carried out thus by Lalitāmbā, all his sorrows will be destroyed. He will be master of all eight Siddhis. Both worldly enjoyment and salvation are within his reach.
148. Those men who read this narrative on holy days will attain flourishing excellent fortune. This narrative of Lalitā's valour is destructive of all sins. It is sacred and condu cive to the attainment of all Siddhis.