The Markandeya Purana

by Bibek Debroy

  Chapter 80

  ‘“The rishi said, ‘The giant asura, Chikshura, the commander of the army, saw that the soldiers were being killed. Filled with rage, he started to fight against Ambika. In the battle, the asura showered down floods of arrows on the goddess. It was just as if a cloud was showering down rain on the summit of Mount Meru. As if in sport, the goddess severed those arrows. With her arrows, she slaughtered the horse riders and the horses. She instantly severed his bow and the standard that rose up high. When his bow was severed, she pierced his limbs with her arrows. His bow was severed. He was without a chariot. His horses were killed. His charioteer was killed. Wielding a sword and a shield, the asura rushed towards the goddess. With the sword, sharp at the edges, he struck the lion on the head. With a great deal of force, he struck the goddess on her left arm. O son of a king! 801 As soon as the sword touched the arm, it shattered into fragments. His eyes turned red with rage and he seized a trident. The giant asura hurled this towards Bhadrakali. It blazed in its energy, like the solar disc in the sky. When she saw that the trident was descending, the goddess hurled her own trident and it shattered the trident and the giant asura into one hundred fragments.

  ‘“‘The general of Mahisha’s army was Chamara, the afflicter of the gods. When he saw that the immensely valiant one was dead, he advanced astride an elephant. He quickly hurled a spear towards the goddess Ambika. When she uttered humkara, 802 that spear fell down on the ground, losing all splendour. Seeing that his spear had been brought down, Chamara was filled with rage and hurled a javelin. But she severed it with her arrows. The enemy of the gods was seated on the elephant’s shoulder. Leaping up, the lion grabbed him and started to wrestle with him. While they fought, both of them fell down from atop the elephant onto the ground. Extremely angry, they fought and struck each other extremely terrible blows. The enemy of the deer struck him with force and brought him down. With a blow of its paw, it severed Chamara’s head.

  ‘“‘In the battle, the goddess killed Udagra with boulders and trees. She brought down Karala with her teeth, fists and palms. The goddess angrily crushed Uddhvata by bringing down her mace on him. She killed Baskhala with a javelin and Tamra and Andhaka with arrows. With her trident, the three-eyed Parameshvari killed Ugrasya, Ugravirya and Mahahanu. With her sword, she severed Bidala’s head from his body. She used her arrows to convey Durdhara and Durmukha to Yama’s eternal abode. Kalaratri brought down Kala with Destiny’s staff. She struck Ugradarshana with a fierce blow of her sword. In the battle that was like a festival, she severed Asiloma with her sword. At this act of the goddess, the ganas and the lion started festivities, exclaimed “victory” and exultantly slapped themselves.

  ‘“‘When his own soldiers were being destroyed in this fashion, Mahishasura assumed the form of a buffalo 803 and terrified the ganas. He bit some and struck some with his hooves. He lashed some with his tail and drove others away with his horns. Some were brought down through his force, others were confounded by his roars. The gust of his breath brought others down on the ground. The asura attacked the army of pramathas 804 and brought them down. When he struck the lion, the great goddess, Ambika, was enraged. The immensely valiant one was also enraged and tore up the ground with his hooves. He flung mountains down with his horns and roared. As he roamed around with great force, the earth was agitated and shattered. Struck by his tail, the ocean overflowed in every direction. The clouds were struck by his horns and torn to shreds. The gust raised from his breathing brought down hundreds of mountains from the sky. The great asura descended in great rage. When she saw this, the angry Chandika got ready to bring about his death. She flung her noose and bound the great asura in this. When he was bound in this way in that great battle, he abandoned his form of a buffalo and instantly assumed the form of a lion. When Ambika severed its head, he was seen to be in the form of a man, holding a sword in his hand. When the goddess quickly cut down the man who was wielding a sword and a shield, he assumed the form of a gigantic elephant. The elephant dragged the large lion with its trunk and roared. When it was dragging in this way, the goddess used her sword to slice off the trunk. At this, the giant asura again assumed the form of a buffalo and agitated the three worlds, with all the mobile and immobile objects. Chandika, the mother of the universe, was enraged and repeatedly drank some excellent liquor. With her eyes red in rage, she laughed out aloud. Intoxicated with strength and valour, the asura also roared. Using its horns, it flung mountains towards Chandika. She countered and pulverized them with torrents of arrows. When she spoke to him, because she was intoxicated, the syllables that emerged from her mouth were not clearly articulated and were slurred. The goddess said, “O foolish one! Roar for a short while. Roar until I have finished drinking this liquor. You will soon be slain by me and all the gods will roar.” Having said this, she climbed astride that giant asura. She pressed down on his throat with her foot and struck him with the trident. Restrained by the valour of the goddess, who was pressing down on the buffalo’s throat with her foot, he could only half emerge from the buffalo’s mouth. Though only half of his body could emerge, the giant asura continued to fight. With a large sword, the goddess severed his head and brought it down. The one named Mahisha and his large number of soldiers and well-wishers had confounded the three worlds. But he was killed by the goddess. When Mahisha’s soldiers were slaughtered in this way, the three worlds, the gods, the asuras 805 and humans, uttered words of victory. When he was slain, all the daitya soldiers uttered words of lamentation. All the large number of gods were filled with great delight. The gods and the divine maharshis praised the goddess. The lords among the gandharvas sang and large numbers of apsaras danced.’”’

  Chapter 81

  ‘“The rishi said, ‘When Mahishasura was killed, with Indra at the forefront, all the gods bent down and praised the goddess. The evil-souled and extremely valiant one was an enemy of the gods. When he was killed and his army destroyed, the large number of gods, Shakra and the others, praised the goddess with lowered heads, necks and shoulders. When their body hair stood up in delight, their bodies were beautiful. The gods said in eloquent words, “O goddess! Everything in this universe, the large number of gods, embodied beings and their powers, were created through your own powers. O Ambika! You are worshipped by all the gods and maharshis. We are bowing down faithfully before you. Please ensure what is beneficial for us. Your powers are unmatched. The illustrious Ananta, Brahma and Hara lack the powers to describe them. O Chandika! Please turn your mind towards protecting the entire universe and destroying everything that is inauspicious. You are Shri for the performers of good deeds. For those who are evil-souled, you are Alakshmi. 806 For those who possess understanding, you are the intelligence in their hearts. You are faith for the virtuous. For those who possess the power of noble birth, you are modesty. Therefore, we are bowing down before you. O goddess! Protect the universe. Your form cannot be comprehended. How can we describe it? You are the immensely valiant one. You are the one who repeatedly destroys asuras. O goddess! Among the large number of gods and asuras, who can describe your extraordinary conduct in battles? O goddess! Though you possess the three gunas, you are the cause behind the entire universe. You cannot be comprehended by Hari, Hara and the others. You are the refuge for everything. Everything in the universe has originated from your parts. You are the original one. You are supreme Prakriti, without any form. O goddess! When your name is uttered in all the sacrifices, all the gods are satisfied. You are Svaha. People pronounced you as Svadha, when they seek the satisfaction of the large number of ancestors. You are the unthinkable cause behind emancipation. You are the great vow. You are studies. You are the objective of attentive self-control. You are the essence of truth. You are the knowledge sought by sages who cleanse all their taints for the sake of emancipation. O goddess! You are the supreme and illustrious one. Sound is your atman. You are the spotless hymns of Rig Veda and Yajur Veda. You are the reservoir of the beautiful songs and chanting of hymns of the
Sama Veda. O goddess! You are all three. You are the illustrious one who is responsible for the creation and preservation of the entire universe. O goddess! You are intelligence. You know about the essence of all the sacred texts. You are Durga. You are like a boat that enables one to cross the ocean of samsara, which is so very difficult to cross. You are unattached. You are Shri, the only one who resides in the heart of Kaitabha’s killer. 807 You are Gouri, the only one who has created a residence with the one who has the moon on his forehead. 808 Your face, with the trace of a sparkling smile, resembles the disc of the full moon. Your complexion possesses the beauty of excellent gold. It is extraordinary that the angry Mahishasura could even glance towards you with eyes of violence. O goddess! Your wrathful and furrowed face was terrible to behold, but was like the moon when it has just arisen. It is extremely extraordinary that on glancing at that face, Mahishasura did not immediately give up his life. After beholding the enraged Destroyer, who is capable of remaining alive? O goddess! Please show your favours. You are the supreme one who is created for the universe. When you are angered, you destroy lineages. Since you destroyed Mahishasura’s extremely large army, this is now known. When you are pleased with people, they are always blessed with prosperity and respected in habitations. They possess riches and fame. The various classes of their relatives do not suffer. They always have devoted sons, servants and wives. O goddess! It is through your favours that a man who is devoted to dharma, performing good deeds every day, goes to heaven. O goddess! It is indeed through your favours that fruits are reaped in the three worlds. O Durga! When you are remembered, you take away the fears of all creatures. When you are remembered, you bestow health, excellent intelligence and everything auspicious. You are the one who takes away the fear of poverty and misery. Who else brings every kind of benefit? Who else is always worshipped? ‘When they were killed, there was happiness everywhere in the universe. Because of their sins, let them reside in hell for a long time. Because they died in the field of battle, they should go to heaven.’ O goddess! You are the one who decides this before killing them. When you looked at them, were you not capable of reducing all the enemies of the gods to ashes? Nevertheless, you used weapons. ‘Purified by weapons, let these enemies obtain superior worlds.’ O virtuous one! For the sake of their welfare, perhaps that is what you decided. When the asuras glanced at the fierce radiance emanating from your sword, or the dazzle from the point of your trident, they did not perish. That must have been because they also looked at the cool radiance of your moon-like face. O goddess! Your conduct is that of pacifying those who are wicked in conduct. Your pleasant form is unthinkable and is unmatched by anyone else. They robbed the valour of the gods and you manifested your form to take away the energy of the enemy. This is nothing but an act of compassion. Who can your valour be compared with? Your form creates fear in the enemy. Where else is there such a form? O goddess! In the three worlds, there is no one else who exhibits cruelty in battle and is also one who bestows boons. In the field of battle, you slay the enemy and save all the three worlds. You conveyed large numbers of the enemy to heaven. For us, you removed the fear that emanated from the enemies of the gods. We bow down to you. O goddess! Use your trident to save us. O Ambika! Use your sword to save us. Use the sound of your bell and the twang of your bowstring to save us. O Chandika! Save us in the east. Save us in the west. Save us in the south. O Ishvari! Use your whirling trident to save us in the north. Your amiable form wanders around in the three worlds. There are also extremely terrible forms. Use all these to protect the world. O Ambika! Your delicate hands hold a sword, a trident, a mace and many other weapons. Use those to protect us from every direction.” The gods praised her in this way. They used divine flowers that grew in the grove of Nandana, fragrances and unguents to worship the mother of the universe. All the gods devotedly worshipped her with divine and fragrant incense.

  ‘“‘Pleased, the one with the excellent face spoke to all the gods who were prostrate before her. The goddess said, “O gods! I am extremely pleased with the praise and the worship. I will give you everything that you desire and everything that you have asked for. I do not know which other extremely difficult task remains to be accomplished.” Hearing the words of the goddess, the residents of heaven replied. The gods said, “O illustrious one! You have accomplished everything and nothing else remains to be done. You have killed Mahishasura, our enemy. O Maheshvari! However, whenever we remember you, please take away whatever is causing us a great hardship. O one with the unblemished face! If there is a mortal person who tries to satisfy you with the hymn we have uttered, please confer on him wealth, prosperity, wives and enhancement of riches. O Ambika! You are the one who can always confer these on those who seek refuge with you.” O king! Thus propitiated by the gods for the sake of the universe and for their own selves, Bhadrakali agreed and vanished. O king! I have thus described to you how the goddess manifested herself in earlier times from the bodies of the gods, for the sake of the welfare of the three worlds. For the sake of slaying wicked daityas like Shumbha and Nishumbha, for the sake of protecting the worlds and for the sake of showing compassion to the gods, she manifested herself again from Gouri’s body. I will recount this to you exactly. Listen.’”’

  Chapter 82

  ‘“The rishi said, ‘In earlier times, the two asuras, Shumbha and Nishumbha, were intoxicated by their strength. They took away the shares of sacrifices and the three worlds from Shachi’s consort. 809 In that way, they took away the rights of Surya, Chandra, Kubera, Yama, Varuna, Pavana and Agni and started to perform their tasks themselves. This is what they did to the rights of other gods too. The gods were dispersed, deprived of their kingdom and defeated. When all the gods were routed and deprived of their rights by the great asuras, they remembered the goddess who cannot be defeated. “You conferred a boon on us. Whenever we face a calamity and remember you, you will destroy all our great hardships.” Having turned their minds towards the goddess, they went to the Himalayas, lord of mountains. There, they praised the goddess, Vishnumaya.