The Slaying of Shumbha and Nishumbha - Part 3 of 3

Shumbha and Nishumbha were shocked to see the next round of warriors also come back terrified. “Flee! Run away from the woman! Otherwise in the desire for this woman you would lose everything! Your friends, your kingdom and even your life! If you do not give up now, your entire race will be extinguished!” They told the two asuras.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers turned to Shumbha, “Your boon! It protects you only from the male of any species! She is the Goddess! Goddess Maha Maya! The Goddess who has come as your death!” The soldier said with certainty.

“FOOLS!” Shumbha yelled at them loudly, “You are running away because your desire to live is strong! Go! Run away! Run and hide in the Patala.” Shumbha told them in a sneering tone. “You are talking like it was fate which brought the woman here! But I am not a fool to believe in fate! I will fight! I will sent Rakthabija to fight the woman!” Shumbha yelled.

Rakthabija had a very strange boon - one that made him a formidable opponent. He had a boon that every drop of blood which Rakthabija spilled on the earth would give rise to another asura as strong and powerful as Rakthabija himself.

Seeing Rakthabija come, Goddess Kalika blew her conch shell loudly. So loud that it almost scared the other soldiers. But Rakthabija was unperturbed.

He went towards Goddess Kalika and shook his head, “Do you think I am scared of this? I will ask only once,” Rakthabija said in a dangerous voice. “Turn yourself over to my Lord or I will kill you!”

There was no mistaking it. The two Goddesses laughed wildly at Rakthabija. “Do not boast! Fight!” The Goddess yelled at him.

Within a few minutes of battle, Rakthabija was lying unconscious in the battlefield! Terror seized the remaining asuras as they screamed and let out distress signals. Rakthabija was taken off the field for treatment.

Shumbha who was watching this from his palace turned to his guards. “Call the Kamvojas and the Kalakeyas to fight for us,” Shumbha said letting out a sharp breath.

Pursuant to Shumbha’s wishes, the Kamvojas and the Kalakeyas came to battle.

Seeing the army march towards the two women, the other women also joined the battle. All the wives of the Devas joined the battle - Brahmani came on a swan with the powers of Brahma, Vaishnavi with the powers of Vishnu came on Garuda. The wife of Kartikeyan - Kaumari came with weapons and she was mounted on a peacock. Indrani, Varahi, Narasimhi…. They all came and they all came blazing and ready for war. (These Goddesses are called Matrikas or Mother Goddesses. They are the powers of the Gods.)

Lord Shiva appeared before the women and encouraged them to finish the battle as quick as possible. That was when Goddess Ambika spoke with Lord Shiva, “Lord Shiva! Though Shumbha and Nishumbha have fought repeatedly with me, I wish to give them a chance to live. Go to them as my messenger and tell them to stop fighting or that I would kill them. This is the last chance I am giving them!” Ambika said.

Lord Shiva went to the asuras but the asuras paid no heed to the wise words of the Lord.

Then the Devis started massacring the asuras on the battlefield, mercilessly. Soon the air was filled with the screams and shouts of the asuras who could not escape from the warrior Goddesses.

Rakthabija who was in his camp heard the screams of his people and raced outside towards the battlefield.

The first Goddess whom Rakthabija saw was Vaishnavi and he hurled his Shakthi weapon at the Goddess. Vaishnavi stopped the weapon and hurled her Sudarshana Chakra at the asura. At the same time Indrani, also attacked him as Chamundi destroyed Rakthabija’s weapons.

And Rakthabija’s blood fell on the earth.

The Devas who were watching the battle were shocked because a few thousand Rakthabijas surrounded the Matrikas and the Goddess Ambika and Goddess Kalika.

The Devas were sure that all was lost…

Goddess Ambika turned to Kalika, “As soon as we fire on Rakthabija and he starts bleeding, drink all the blood of Rakthabija and make sure nothing falls on the earth! Me and the other Matrikas would injure the asura continuously!” Goddess Ambika told the other Goddess.

And Goddess Kalika carried out her instructions perfectly. As the other Matrikas injured Rakthabija, she made sure none of Rakthabija’s blood fell on the earth.

Within a very short time, the tide of the battle turned.

The Matrikas hacked just about anything in their path and soon the real Rakthabija was the only one left along with the other Asura soldiers.

And Goddess Ambika showed no mercy to Rakthabija and killed him too.

Both Shumbha and Nishumbha came to battle with their own armies and Nishumbha’s army attacked the Devis first. And as was the rule of war, Shumbha watched the war.

The battle was almost an anticlimax because after so much destruction, the Goddesses destroyed Nishumbha almost easily.

Shumbha watched the entire scene shell shocked and numb.

Shumbha drove up on his chariot and saw the beautiful Goddess Ambika and was unable to pull out his weapons. “I cannot fight you. Your beauty distracts me, Lady!” Shumbha told the Goddess.

The Goddess laughed, “Even during a battle, you are unable to fight dispassionately.” She turned to Goddess Kalika, “You are fierce! I think you should fight him. I will watch.” The Goddess said.

There was a short, supercharged battle between the Goddess and Shumbha and the Goddess first broke Shumbha’s chariot with her club and then without any hesitation killed Shumbha too….

The Slaying of Shumbha and Nishumbha - Part 2 of 3

Shumbha nodded and called Durmalochana.

“There is a beautiful woman in our gardens!” Shumbha told Durmalochana. “Take our huge army to fight with her.”

Durmalochana was more than sure that he had heard something wrong. And that was when Shumbha’s fierce expression told Durmalochana that Shumbha indeed wanted an army to bring a woman captive.

Durmalochana honestly felt it was an overkill and was looking stupefied as Shumbha continued, “Kill any person who helps the Lady. Any Deva, any human, any person who sides the Lady during the fight, kill them. I have heard that this Lady has a friend called Kalika. Kill Kalika. But do not harm this Lady. Make sure that you hit her with arrows which are not sharp and bring the Lady to me.”

Durmalochana realized that Shumbha desired this woman and nodded.

Taking a huge army, Durmalochana asked them to wait outside the gardens, as he met the Goddess alone. “My Lady, Shumbha grieves that you are not with him. Please, my Lady reconsider and marry Shumbha!”

Goddess Kalika laughed. It was a wild laughter as Durmalochana watched her, scared, “Words! Is that all you are capable of? Fight or go back to Patala,” The Goddess said as she watched Durmalochana with something less than contempt.

Durmalochana was shocked as he heard Goddess Kalika. He then recovered immediately and sneered he nodded to his men, “Kill this woman!” Durmalochana screeched at his men as he pointed at Goddess Kalika, “... And kill the lion too!” Durmalochana and his men surrounded Kalika from all sides thinking that this was going to be all over in a few seconds.

Durmalochana fired arrows and Kalika broke the arrows before it could reach her. And once Goddess Kalika fell on their army, the asura army was massacred.

Goddess Kalika was fierce, lethal and dangerous and it looked like she was going to decimate the entire Asura army and that was when Durmalochana pulled out his Parigha weapon.

Goddess Ambika saw the Parigha weapon and shouted a syllable. It is said that the power of the syllable was so strong that Durmalochana was reduced to ashes the minute the Goddess spoke the words.

Shumbha and Nishumbha were shocked to find their men running back from the garden looking terrified and gasping for breath.

“Where is Durmalochana? Why are you running?” Shumbha demanded as he saw his men.

Still terrified, the men told Shumbha all that had happened, “Durmalochana is dead. He was killed by the Goddess. She uttered a word and he was burnt to ashes. She is the Mother Goddess!” One of them said panting. “The Goddess of all. I think both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu would come to her aid if she asks for it. Even the Lokapalas would come to her help and fight us! She has come here to help the Devas,” the men continued, “We think that the Goddess does not want the help of the Devas, Lord Shiva or Lord Vishnu because the Goddess knows that she can destroy everything by herself!” The men said looking scared.

And as if that was not enough, a terrifying conch blast could be heard from the garden. It was a terrible sound - almost like a death knell.

The remaining asura warriors bolted from there knowing that it was the conch of the Goddess.

Hearing the terrified words of the men, Shumbha spoke with Nishumbha in private. “What is to be done now?” He asked with troubled eyes.

The wise Nishumbha shook his head. “Fighting is the only way we have!”

Shumbha still looked troubled as Nishumbha continued, “I will fight the woman!”

“No! Wait!” Shumbha said sharply. “I will send Chanda and Munda to fight her!”

Chanda and Munda were both summoned before their king but this time the instructions given to them were different from the ones given to Durmalochana.

“Kill this Kalika! And try to bring the Lady captive, if she does not come willingly. But if the Lady fights, kill her too!” Shumbha said with a sinister look.

Chanda and Munda came to the garden and tried speaking with the beautiful Goddess once more. “The Devas have sent you on an impossible mission, Lady. A mission which could get you killed. You do not need to be friendly with people like these weak Devas! Why do you wish to fight Shumbha, beautiful Lady? Just give up your arms and accept Shumbha as your husband!”

This time the Goddess blazed angrily at the two men, “Fools!” The Goddess shouted. “Why do you think I will want Shumbha as my husband? I have Shiva, Vishnu and other Devas and you think I would choose Shumbha?”

The Goddess looked more and more angry. “Why would I choose anyone as my husband?” The Goddess demanded. “I preserve all the universe with the Gods and the Devas, all inside me.” The Goddess snorted. “Since ancient times, I have always destroyed evil warriors like Shumbha and Nishumbha. Just like what I am about to do right now!”

No sooner had the Goddess spoken Chanda and Goddess Kalika started fighting furiously.

And seeing Munda, Goddess Ambika frowned. From the frown of the Goddess emerged another Goddess as fierce as Goddess Kalika. This was Goddess Kali and wearing a tiger skin and garland of skulls, Goddess Kali looked ferocious. More than ferocious.

The asuras Chanda and Munda were unconscious in no time and Goddess Kalika tied Chanda and Munda in the “Pasa” weapon (A noose like weapon) and killed both the men.

Goddess Ambika watched the two dead asuras and turned to Goddess Kalika, “Because you have killed both Chanda and Munda, you will be called as Chamundi, from now on!”

The Slaying of Shumbha and Nishumbha - Part 1 of 3

Many years after the defeat of Mahishasura, the Devas had another problem in the form of two asurasa – Shumbha and Nishumbha. The two lived in Patala. [In Hinduism, it is believed that there are three worlds – swarga – the heavens, Privthi or the Earth and the Patala or the underworld. The Patala is considered to be the home of the Danavas, Yakshas and the Nagas. The Patala is supposed to be more beautiful than the heavens itself. Though there is no sunlight in the lower realms, it is said that there is no darkness because of the brightness of the jewels worn by the people in Patala. It is also said that there is no old age or diseases in the Patala.]

The two asura brothers – Shumbha and Nishumbha came to Earth and they desired to be the most powerful persons in the three realms. And as soon as they came to Earth, they performed severe penance at Pushkara.

Lord Brahma, the Creator God was pleased with their penance and appeared before them.

“Open your eyes sons,” Lord Brahma told the two asuras who were deep in meditation.

The two asuras bowed to the Lord after completing their meditation.

“The power of your meditation is such that it dragged me here,” Lord Brahma told the two of them. “Anything that you ask is yours.”

“Immortality,” Shumbha told the Creator God. “We wish for immortality.”

Much to the chagrin of the two asuras, Lord Brahma unhappily shook his head. “All who are born will die. That is the law of nature. I cannot change that. Ask anything else, but not the boon of immortality.” Brahma told them.

“Then we wish that we cannot be invincible in battle before any Deva, man,...” Shumbha rattled out a long list which included all the species in all the realms at that time. But unfortunately for Shumbha he included only the males of all the species.

Lord Brahma granted their wish and vanished from there.

Then Shumbha, being the elder of the two was crowned as the king of the Asuras. They made Sage Bhrigu as their chief advisor and they started recruiting an army. Hearing about the boons that Shumbha and Nishumbha had obtained from Lord Brahma, many asuras happily joined their army. Some of the powerful asuras who joined their armies were Durmalochana, Chanda, Munda, Rakthabija etc.

And then Shumbha started his attacks. The kingdoms on earth could not even offer a proper defense against the ferocity of the asuras and most the kingdoms were routed by them. Very soon, all the kingdoms on earth came under the control of the Asuras.

However, neither Shumbha nor Nishumbha were satisfied with this. They set their sights on the heaven and attacked Lord Indra, the King of the Devas.

Indra fought against the two asuras brilliantly. He used his Vajrayudha [thunderbolt weapon of Indra] against Nishumbha and rendered Nishumbha unconscious.

Hearing news that his brother was unconscious in battle, Shumbha rushed to the battle and fought Indra. And the boon of Lord Brahma protected him. Indra, the other Devas and the Lokpalas [Lords of the Four Directions] were all defeated by Shumbha.

Indra and the other Devas were defeated and thrown out of the heavens. Shumbha ruled the heavens and he ruled it like a dictator.

The Devas were fleeing from Shumbha and the other asuras when they approached their sage – Brihaspathi, for a way out of their predicament. It was Sage Brihaspathi, who reminded the Devas that the Mother Goddess was the one who had saved the Devas when they were harassed by Mahishasura. Therefore Sage Brihaspathi asked the Devas to pray to the Mother Goddess again.

The Devas then went to the Mount Himalayas and prayed fervently to the Great Mother Goddess.

On hearing their prayers, Goddess Parvathi [Parvathi is the wife of Shiva. Her warrior persona is called by many names including Durga, Kali, Chandi, Ambika] transformed into two Goddesses – Goddess Ambika and another dark Goddess called Kalika. While Ambika was fair and beautiful beyond words, Kalika was dark, fierce and looked like a mean fighting machine.

The Devas were stunned when a huge lion appeared before the two ladies, roaring ferociously.

“I will handle this,” Goddess Ambika said with a calm smile.

The beautiful Goddess Ambika sat on the lion and along with Kalika went to the kingdom of Shumbha.

Upon entering the kingdom the Goddess walked to the nearby gardens and sat there and started singing.

The voice of the Goddess was so beautiful and even the birds and the animals in the garden stopped talking and were listening to the Goddess. Kalika was smiling as she was nodding her head listening to the divine music. The lion seemed to look almost tame as it heard the song of the Goddess.

Chanda and Munda just came back from their hunting when they heard the music. Unable to stop themselves they found themselves in the garden listening to the mesmerising music and what they saw there shocked the two asuras.

A few minutes later, the two men hurried away and were in the inner room of Shumbha.

“My Lord, you cannot find a more beautiful lady anywhere in the universe. She is so beautiful that even the God of Love - Kama Deva would be entranced with her. And her singing…” Chanda could not even find words to describe the beauty of the singing and just gave it up.

Munda nodded fervently, “Just accept the woman as your wife, my Lord!” he said.

Shumbha could not stop smiling as her heard the words of Chanda and Munda. Still smiling he turned his attention to his trusted minister - Sugriva. “Talk to the Lady in beautiful and kind words and tell her that Shumbha wishes to marry her.”

Sugriva nodded and hurriedly went to the garden. There he heard the last lines of the song and nodded his head to the music unable to pull himself away. When the Goddess finished singing, Sugriva walked towards the Goddess and bowed to her.

“My Lady, I have been sent by Shumbha, the king of the Asuras who cannot be defeated by either a Deva, asura or human being. Just by listening to what others have spoken about you, Shumbha has fallen in love with you. Please accept his proposal and become his wife.” Sugriva told the Goddess.

There was a dazzling smile in the face of the Goddess which drove almost anyone insane as she spoke to Sugriva, “I have come to this city of my own free will for finding a husband. And I know all the qualifications of Shumbha, which is why I have come here!”

Sugriva was smiling broadly when the Goddess spoke again, “However, there is a small problem with my wedding!”

Sugriva frowned as the Goddess continued, “When I was younger, I made a promise to my friends that I would marry only the man who can defeat me in battle. Please tell your Lord to defeat me in battle and after that he would know my strength and weaknesses. After that I would marry him.”

Shumbha was completely and truly astounded. He was sure that he has heard something wrong or at least something impossible.

“Even the Devas cannot hope to fight against Shumbha, my Lady!” Shumbha said swallowing as he watched the Goddess, “Surely a promise made by you when you were a child and made without considering the repercussions would hardly be valid!” Sugriva said a little desperately.

The Goddess firmly shook her head, “Fight with me and defeat me!” She said. “If however your Lord is afraid of me or my weapons, ask him to go back to the Patala!” Goddess Ambika said calmly.

Sugriva knew that talking anymore with the Goddess, was pointless and hastily made his way back to his king.

“Speak!” Shumbha told Sugriva impatiently when he found his minister silent.

“The woman is haughty and she has come here for a fight!” Sugriva told the king.

“WHAT?” Shumbha asked shocked.

Shumbha sighed and told his king all that had happened with the Goddess.

Shumbha was troubled. He just could not believe that a woman would so haughtily come for a fight against him. Even the Devas had no hope of winning against him. But this woman….

Shumbha turned to his brother Nishumbha looking at him inquiringly.

Nishumbha frowned and then looked at Shumbha, “Send Durmalochana! He will defeat her and bring her here!”

Goddess Durga – The slayer of Mahisha

Goddess Durga is the warrior goddess who fought and defeated the evil Mahishasura.

The story of Mahishasura starts with his father - Ramba.

Ramba was an asura who performed severe penance to make the Gods happy. Lord Agni [the Lord of the Fire] was pleased with the penance and appeared before him, "Open your eyes, son of Dhanu."

Ramba opened his eyes and bowed to Agni.

Agni smiled and asked him, "I am pleased with your penance, what do you wish?"

Ramba said, "I wish for a son, my Lord, who cannot be killed by any man or God or animal."

Lord Agni said, "So be it. However if your son himself prays to Lord Brahma for the boon, he would become more powerful. "

Ramba nodded his head as Lord Agni disappeared.

Ramba the king of demons, then fell in love with Mahishi, a water buffalo (The water buffalo was Princess Shyamala, who was actually cursed to be a buffalo). Their son’s name was Mahishasura. As Mahisha's mother was a buffalo, he was able to change into human and a buffalo form and could even assume the form of other animals.

However Mahishasura's parents died soon after he was he was born. Mahishasura was brought up by Ramba’s relatives.

"No man or God can defeat you Mahisha. You are meant to be a great king." They would tell him.

Mahisha soon believed all this and thought that he was invincible.

When he had grown up, he went to his uncle, "Uncle, all my life you have told me that I am meant to be a great king – so great that I can rule the Devas." Mahishasura said with glowing eyes. "I want to know what I am supposed to do to make that dream a reality."

Mahisha's uncle looked at the strapping young boy and smiled. He told Mahishasura all about his parents and the boon of Lord Agni. Mahishasura listened attentively and finally nodded. "So I have to pray to Lord Brahma. Mahisha's uncle nodded.

The young boy then set out to the forest and performed a severe penance to Lord Brahma. Finally Lord Brahma was pleased and appeared before Mahishasura. "What boon do you seek Mahishasura?"

"Lord, I was born after my father had a boon from Lord Agni. I wish to get the boon myself to make it more powerful. I wish that I cannot be killed by any man, God or animal. I wish to be the most powerful of all creatures ever created," Mahishasura immediately said,

Lord Brahma was not very happy but he had no choice.

Lord Brahma had a suspicion that this boon was going to have very bad results. However as he had promised that he would give any boon and so he had to grant Mahisha's boon. With a heavy heart Lord Brahma granted Mahisha his boon and disappeared.

Mahishasura returned home a triumphant man and began preparations for war to expand his kingdom. Empowered by his boon, no one was able to stand up against Mahishasura and soon he became powerful. He ruled all over the earth. However Mahishasura just did not conquer kingdoms. He destroyed the kingdoms, and terrorized the people. People feared him but did not know what to do to escape from him. Anyone who stood up against Mahishasura was mercilessly killed by the demon.

The people prayed fervently to Mahadevi – the great Goddess to come and protect them.

Meanwhile Mahishasura was not satisfied after conquering the earth. He set his sight on the heavens. He invaded the heavens and defeated Indra, the king of the Gods. Indra’s army was defeated and the Devas were all driven out. The Devas ran and went to Brahma.

"My Lord Brahma," Indra said falling at Brahma"s feet, "Please save us. You are the only one who can protect us." Lord Brahma looked at the faces of the gods and realized that something was very wrong.

The Devas slowly told him how they had been routed by Mahishasura.

"My Lord," Varuna said, "nothing we do seems to hurt him. He just seems to get more and more powerful. "

Lord Brahma spoke for the first time, "Sons, you all know of the boon I gave Mahisha. I did not want to give him the boon, but I really did not have a choice. His penance was so strong that I had to give him what he had asked for," Lord Brahma said feeling more and more angry with himself for granting Mahisha the boon.

"However, don't worry Devas," Lord Brahma said collecting himself. “We will go and see Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. They are both at Vaikunta now discussing this very problem. Let us go there and join them."

Goddess Saraswati said, "I will accompany you to Vaikunta."

So Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswati led the Devas to Vaikunta -Lord Vishnu’s home. There they saw Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati and Lord Vishnu with Goddess Lakshmi together.

Indra bowed to the Gods and told them of their problems. When Indra finished, the entire Vaikunta resounded with a voice, a strong and melodious voice, the voice of Mahadevi, the great Goddess. "Children, Lord Brahma’s boon protects Mahishasura from any man and God but not from a woman. Use all your powers and together create a great power. The three Goddesses should come together. I will incarnate there in the form of a warrior Goddess. Gift the warrior with all your weapons. She will solve all your problems."

Hearing this, the three Shaktis - Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati smiled. They were all incarnations of the great Goddess. Now their mother wanted to create another power strong enough to destroy Mahisha. The three of them merged together.

When they came together Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma gave out a blinding white light, which fused with the merged bodies of the three Goddess. The light was so fierce that it could not even be seen by Devas with their eyes.

The blinding lights met at the ashram of a priest Katyayan.

From this light emerged a woman with a thousand hands. The Goddess looked ferocious and beautiful at the same time.

The Goddess introduced herself in the same melodious and strong voice of Mahadevi, "I am Katyayani, because I was formed in the ashram of Katyayan. I am Durga [Durga literally translated in Sanskrit means "the invincible"]. I am the incarnation of the Mahadevi and I have come here to destroy all evil."

The gods all stared at the Goddess Durga and bowed to her.

Lord Shiva them picked up his trident and offered it to Durga. Lord Vishnu offered his Sudarshana Chakra to the Goddess. Lord Brahma then offered his Kamandalam of holy water.

Indra hesitatingly came forward and offered the Goddess his thunderbolt [Vajrayudham]. Following him the other gods also came forward. Varuna gave Durga a conch, Agni gave her a missile, Vayu gave her bows and arrows. Vishwakarma – the architect of the Gods gave Durga his axe and a very powerful armour. The God of the Mountains gave her a lion.

Now armed with the weapons, Goddess Durga sat on the lion majestically and let out a chilling roar. The roar was so loud that the three worlds trembled. Ocean waves crashed up the skies and the earth shook.

In the heavens, looking at all this Mahishasura’s heart nearly missed a beat.

He rushed outside his palace and wondered what was going on.

What he saw almost made his heart stop. There was a beautiful, fierce woman riding majestically on a lion and coming straight for him. Her face was gentle and patient, but try as he might, Mahishasura could not shake out the feeling of dread when he saw the Goddess.

Mahishasura realized that the woman was the cause of the roar and the trembling, he had heard and felt a few minutes back. Mahishasura was more and more terrified. Mahishasura hastily gave an order to all his people to have their armies ready to fight her. Deep inside Mahishasura wondered whether anything could protect him against the woman.

The woman was now within hearing distance and looked contemptuously at Mahishasura. "You are the one who wanted to die in the hands of a woman, didn’t you? Well here I am. "

Mahishasura hastily stepped back in fear. He turned to his men, "Well, what are you staring at? Is it not your job to protect me. Protect me from this woman." He said pointing to Goddess Durga.

Mahisha's men were in no mood to fight against the Goddess. But they had little choice. Mahisha was their ruler. They had to obey his wishes.

So the asuras fought with Devi. The first wave of the soldiers threw in their weapons. The Goddess destroyed all their weapons, with the same speed that the asuras threw them. Weapon-less, the asuras now attacked the Devi barehanded. Giving out another roar, the Devi used all her weapons with devastating effect. Almost half of Mahisha's army was destroyed in the attack of the Devi. And the worst part was none of them were able to find any weakness in the fighting technique of the Devi. It was almost as if she was fighting machine, made specifically for killing them all.

Looking at the battle from the confines of the palace, Mahishasura was terrified. He knew that he had no choice but to face the woman soon. The way she was going, there was nothing of his army going to be left by evening.

He called in his personal army. Asuras he had hand picked, who were very brave and brilliant fighters. He had always thought that there was no equal to his personal army anywhere in the world. Now he fervently hoped he was right.

He addressed his men, "You are the bravest among all of the Asuras. You have to show this woman what we can really do," He said looking at all of them. The men nodded and turned to the battlefield. Mahishasura was in their centre protected from them.

As Mahishasura marched in, Goddess Durga looked at him and his men. As she was firing weapons and killing Asuras, she realised that the personal army of Mahishasura was another matter. They were better fighters. Durga smiled.

These men were better fighters then the warriors that she was facing, the Goddess thought as she fired arrows with an unimaginable speed, killing asuras everywhere. I am also going to need people to fight for me.

Goddess Durga without stopping any of her arrows, muttered shlokas and concentrated hard.

Mahishasura could not believe what he was seeing. Durga had been fighting and then suddenly behind Durga he could see a new army. An army of fierce brave warriors, who looked every bit as ferocious and resolute as the Devi herself.

Mahishasura almost faltered. But he was the leader of his men. He could not back off now. He had to face it and try to win.

The army of the Devi made short work of the remaining army of Mahisha. All of them fought like Devi Durga – with single minded devotion, patiently and fiercely.

Mahisha told his men, "You take on her army, men. I will take her on. "

The men nodded and soon began a fierce battle. Durga’s army though small was extremely disciplined, and strong. Though Mahisha's personal army was powerful, Durga’s army seemed to handle the battle better.

Mahishasura saw angrily as more and more asuras died, whereas very few of Durga’s army were hurt. Enraged Mahisha turned into a buffalo and charged at Durga’s army. He wounded many soldiers, bit them and hit with his tail. Durga’s lion attacked the buffalo. Durga threw a noose around his neck and was about to pull out her sword.

Mahishasura suddenly changed form into an elephant. Using his trunk, he pulled up the legs of the lion towards him, trying to throw Durga to the ground. However it made no difference to the Devi. She stuck at Mahishasura with her sword. The sword found its mark and there was a blood flowing at the elephant’s trunk.

However at the last minute, Mahishasura changed into a lion himself. The Devi and the lion clashed.

The personal army of Mahisha was also not faring too well. Durga’s army was just trampling among Mahisha's men.

The Mahisha-lion was defeated by Goddess Durga. Mahisha decided to change into a man. But nothing changed. Durga still defeated him easily.

Mahisha tried his hands at everything. He tried to change his attack, his brute force, the positioning of his army, his own personal appearance. .he tried changing everything. hoping that something would stop the Warrior Goddess. But he should have known better.

She was Durga, the invincible.

The battle raged on. the battle raged for nine days. In the dawn of the tenth day, Mahishasura knew that he could not keep this up any more.

The woman was too powerful and she fought like.....Mahisha had no words to describe the fighting technique of the woman. What was actually difficult for Mahisha to believe was that in these ten days, Mahisha realised that the Devi had not fought him to her actual level. If she had, Mahisha thought shivering, the war would have been over in a day.

But Mahisha had no choice but to go on. He had started the war with a huge army. now there were barely a hundred of them left. And Mahisha also felt his own energy going down sharply.

In a last ditch effort, Mahisha attacked the Devi and her army in his own form of a buffalo. He came close to her, hoping that he could confuse her, but today the Goddess was prepared for him. She drew out her sword and slashed at him. Mahisha saw that the wound was very deep. If he had escape any further injuries, he had to change form. Mahisha had half emerged from the form of the buffalo, when the Devi let out another roar and jumped from her lion. She leapt on the Mahisha and pined him down. She used so much force that Mahisha was unable to move or even use his power of changing form.

The Devi then looked at him and with a flash, brought out her sword, before Mahisha could even understand what was happening, it was over. Mahishasura was no more.

The Gods who watched the entire battle were overjoyed. It was over. Mahisha was dead. He would never torment them again. The gods ran forward to the Devi and fell on her feet. "Devi. you have brought an end to the evil which tormented us. You are our mother, our protector. Mother please always protect us, whenever we are in trouble. "

Goddess Durga looked at all of them and smiled. "Go forth in peace, my sons. You have my blessings, now and forever. "

The Goddess vanished and the Gods gave Goddess Durga another name Mahishasuramardini [the one who ended Mahisha's life] and sang her praises and went back to heavens!

Click here for audio story. Voices by SA Krishnan Sancheta Jain and families