The Markandeya Purana

by Bibek Debroy

  ‘“‘The gods said, “We bow down before the goddess, before Mahadevi. 810 We always bow down to Shiva. 811 We bow down to Prakriti, to Bhadra. 812 We control ourselves and prostrate ourselves before her. We bow down to Roudra. 813 We bow down to Nitya. 814 We bow down before Gouri. 815 We bow down before Dhatri. 816 We prostrate ourselves before her. We bow down before the one in whom the universe is established. We bow down before the goddess who is Kritya. 817 We prostrate ourselves before her. We bow down before the one whose form is moonlight. We bow down before the one whose form is the moon. We always prostrate ourselves before the one who is happiness. We bow down before the one who grants good fortune. We prostrate ourselves before the one who brings prosperity and success. We prostrate ourselves before the one whose form is the tortoise. We bow down before you. We bow down before Nairriti. We bow down before the one who holds up the earth. We bow down before Lakshmi. We bow down before Sharvani. We prostrate ourselves before you. We bow down before Durga. 818 We bow down before the shore that is difficult to reach. We bow down before the one who is the essence. We bow down before the one who is the cause of all action. We bow down before the one who is fame. We bow down before the one who is dark. We always prostrate ourselves before the one who is smoky in complexion. We bow down before the one who is exceedingly gentle. We bow down before the one who is exceedingly terrible. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. We bow down before the one in whom the universe is established. We bow down before the goddess who is Kritya. We prostrate ourselves before her. The goddess is in all beings and is spoken of as Vishnumaya. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. 819 The goddess is in all beings and is spoken of as consciousness. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of intellect. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of sleep. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of hunger. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of a shadow. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of strength. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is all beings in the form of thirst. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of patience. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of existence. 820 We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of modesty. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of peace. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of faith. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of beauty. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of prosperity. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of fortitude. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of subsistence. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of memory. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of mercy. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of good policy. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of contentment. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of nourishment. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. The goddess is in all beings in the form of a mother. The goddess is in all beings in the form of confusion. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. She is the one who presides over the senses of all beings. She is the one who always pervades all beings. We bow down before her. We prostrate ourselves before her. She is the one who exists in the form of consciousness, pervading the entire universe. We bow down before her. We bow down before her. We bow down. We prostrate ourselves. Earlier, to obtain their wishes, the gods praised her and sought refuge with her. Indra of the gods, Isha and Dinesha 821 served her. She is the one who brings what is auspicious to us. She is the Ishvari who is the cause behind everything auspicious. She is the fortunate one who destroys all calamities. We are now being tormented by the insolent daityas. Full of faith and in forms filled with humility, the gods are prostrating themselves before you. She is the Ishvari. Remembered in this way, may she instantly destroy all our calamities.”’”’

  ‘“The rishi continued, ‘O son of a king! While the gods were praising and addressing her in this way, Parvati arrived there, to bathe in the waters of the Jahnavi. The one with the excellent eyebrows asked the gods, “Whom are you praising?” Shivaa manifested herself from the sheaths of her body 822 and said, “They uttered this hymn to me, because they have been routed by the daitya Shumbha. In a battle, all the gods have been defeated by Nishumbha.” Since Ambika issued from the sheaths in Parvati’s body, all the worlds used the name Koushiki to sing about her. 823 When she had emerged, Parvati turned dark. She resides in the Himalayas and is known as Kalika. 824 After this, Ambika assumed a supremely radiant and extremely beautiful form. Chanda and Munda, Shumbha and Nishumbha’s servants, saw her. They went and told Shumbha, “O great king! There is a woman, captivating in form, who is illuminating the Himalayas. No one has ever beheld such extraordinary beauty. O lord of asuras! You should find out who that beautiful woman is and accept her as your queen. She is a jewel among women and her limbs are exceedingly beautiful. She is illuminating the directions. O Indra among daityas! She is standing there. You should go and see her. O lord! You have already gathered all the jewels, gems, elephants and horses from the three worlds in your house. From Purandara, you took away Airavata, jewel among elephants, the Parijata tree and the horse, Ucchaihshrava. The creator 825 possessed an extraordinary vimana, made out of jewels and yoked to swans. You have brought that to your house too. You have brought the nidhi Mahapadma from the lord of riches. 826 The ocean gave you Kinjalika, the garland made out of lotus flowers that do not fade. Varuna’s umbrella, with golden tassels, is in your house. The supreme chariot, which used to belong to Prajapati, is also there. You have taken away Mrityu’s javelin, known as Utkrantida. 827 Your brother has seized the noose of the lord of the waters. 828 Nishumbha has taken away all the riches that originate in the ocean. Vahni has given you two garments that have been purified by the fire. O Indra among daityas! In this way, you have seized all the jewels. This auspicious one is a gem among women. Why aren’t you seizing her?” Shumbha heard the words spoken by Chanda and Munda.

  ‘“‘The great asura sent a messenger named Sugriva to the goddess. Shumbha said, “Go to her and tell her my words, conveying my message. Speak so that she is pleased with me and quickly does what she has to do.” He went there and saw the extremely beautiful one on the slope of the mountain. He addressed the goddess in sweet and gentle words. The messenger said, “O goddess! Shumbha, the lord of the daityas, is the supreme lord of the three worlds. He has sent me as a messenger to your presence. Those who are born in the lineages of the gods can never afford to ignore his words. He has vanquished all the enemies of the daityas. I will tell you what he has said. List
en. ‘All the gods in the three worlds have come under my subjugation. I now enjoy all the separate shares of sacrifices. All the supreme jewels in the three worlds are now under my control. Similarly, I have seized the jewel among elephants that used to be the mount of Indra of the gods. An extraordinary jewel among horses, known as Ucchaihshrava, arose from the churning of the ocean. The immortals prostrated themselves before me and handed it over to me. O beautiful one! All the riches that belonged to the other gods, gandharvas, serpents and other beings now belong to me. O goddess! In all the worlds, we think that you are a jewel among women. Since we are the ones who enjoy all the jewels now, you should follow me. O one with the flickering glances! You are a jewel. Therefore, choose me or my younger brother, Nishumbha. He is supreme in valour. Through my favours, you will obtain supreme and unmatched riches. Hence, use your intelligence to reflect on this. Come to me and serve me.’” Addressed in this way, the goddess Durga Bhadra, the illustrious one who sustains the universe, smiled in a mysterious way. She replied, “You have spoken the truth. There is nothing false in what you have said. Shumbha is the lord of the three worlds and Nishumbha is just like him. However, I took a pledge earlier. How can I act so as to render it false? I was limited in intelligence earlier. Listen to the pledge I took then. In this world, whoever can defeat me in battle, whoever can destroy my insolence and whoever can equal my strength, will be my husband. Let the great asura Shumbha come here, or let it be Nishumbha. Let him defeat me. What is the need to delay? Let him quickly accept my hand.” The messenger responded, “O goddess! Do not utter such words in my presence. You are being insulting. Which man in the three worlds can stand before Shumbha and Nishumbha? O goddess! All the other daityas and gods were unable to stand in front of them in battle. You are a woman and you are alone. Indra and all the other gods were unable to stand before Shumbha and Nishumbha in a battle. How can a mere woman advance in front of them? Listen to my words and go to Shumbha and Nishumbha. Let it not be so that you are dragged there by the hair, with all your pride shattered.” The goddess replied, “Such indeed is the powerful Shumbha and such indeed is the valiant Nishumbha. But what can I possibly do? Without thinking, I took a pledge earlier. Therefore, go there and report everything that I have said. Tell the Indra among asuras this and let him do whatever is appropriate.”’”’

  Chapter 83

  ‘“The rishi said, ‘Hearing these words of the goddess, the messenger was filled with intolerance. The king of the asuras heard the messenger’s words. He angrily spoke to Dhumralochana, lord of the daityas. “O Dhumralochana! Quickly surround yourself with your own soldiers. Forcibly disable that wicked woman and bring her here, dragging her by her hair. If there is anyone else there who wishes to save her, an immortal, a yaksha or a gandharva, he deserves to be killed.” Hearing this command, Dhumralochana quickly surrounded himself with sixty thousand asuras and swiftly left. He saw the goddess on that snow-clad mountain and loudly shouted, “Come before Shumbha and Nishumbha. If you do not cheerfully come and serve my master, I will disable you and forcibly take you there, dragging you by your hair.” The goddess replied, “The lord of daityas has sent a powerful person, surrounded by an army. If you take me there forcibly, what is it possible for me to do?” O amiable one! Thus addressed, the asura Dhumralochana rushed towards her. However, with a humkara, Ambika reduced him to ashes. After this, Ambika angrily showered down sharp arrows, spears and battleaxes on the large army of asuras. The lion, the mount of the goddess, shook its mane in rage and roared extremely fiercely. It descended on the asura soldiers. Some daityas were slain with a blow from the paw, others by biting with the mouth. It slew some large asuras by striking them with its hind feet. The maned lion brought some down and tore their entrails apart with its nails. With a blow from its paws, it severed the heads of others. There were others who had their arms and heads severed, while the maned lion drank the blood from the entrails of others. In a short while, driven by great rage, the goddess’s great-souled maned mount destroyed that entire army. Shumbha, the lord of the daityas, heard that the asura Dhumralochana had been killed by the goddess and that the entire army had been destroyed by the goddess’s lion. His lips quivered in rage and he commanded the two great asuras, Chanda and Munda. “O Chanda! O Munda! Surround yourselves with many forces. You should go there. Having gone there, swiftly bring her here. Drag her here by her hair, or bind her. In the course of the battle, if there is some uncertainty about this and you find that all the asuras are being killed with all manner of weapons, then kill her. Alternatively, when the wicked Ambika’s lion has been killed, seize and bind her and quickly return here.”’”’

  Chapter 84

  ‘“The rishi said, ‘Commanded in this way, with the daityas Chanda and Munda at the forefront, an army with the four kinds of forces departed, raising up their weapons. They saw the goddess on that large and golden summit of that Indra among mountains. She was astride the lion and seemed to be smiling slightly. On seeing her, they got ready to set about their task. Some drew their bows. Others held swords and approached her. Ambika became very angry with the enemy. Because of her rage, her face turned as black as ink. When she furrowed her brows, Kali, terrible to behold, emerged from the base of her forehead, wielding a sword and a noose. She was adorned in a garland made out of human skulls and she held a colourful khatvanga. 829 She was clad in tiger skin and because her flesh was dried up, she was extremely terrible. Her mouth was exceedingly large and a fierce tongue lolled out. Her red eyes were sunken and her roar filled with the directions. She descended with great force and slew the large asuras. She devoured the soldiers in the army of the enemies of the gods. With one hand, she seized the elephants and flung them into her mouth, along with the riders who guarded the flanks, the drivers with the goads, the warriors and the bells. Similarly, she flung warriors, horses, chariots and charioteers into her mouth and used her teeth to chew them up in the most terrible fashion. One was seized by the hair, another by the throat. Some were kicked by the foot, others were pressed against her chest. The asuras released shastras and great astras. She angrily seized some with her mouth and crushed others with her teeth. Among all these evil-souled asuras, there were some who were the strongest of the strong. She devoured some of these and crushed others. There were others that were struck. Some were slain with swords, others were struck with the khatvanga. In that battle, struck by the tips of her teeth, the asuras headed towards destruction. In a short while, that giant army of asuras was brought down. On seeing the extremely terrible Kali, Chanda rushed towards her. Her eyes were terrible to behold and the giant asura showered down extremely terrible arrows on her. Munda hurled thousands of chakras and enveloped her. As these many chakras entered her mouth, it seemed as if many solar discs were entering into a cloud. The terrible one laughed in rage and her roar was fierce. Kali’s blazing teeth could be seen inside her cruel mouth and were impossible to behold. Astride the giant lion, the goddess rushed towards Chanda. She seized him by the hair and severed his head with her sword. Having severed the head of the Indra among daityas, she emitted an exceedingly terrible roar. The three worlds were terrified at this loud roar. On seeing that Chanda had been brought down, Munda rushed forward. She angrily struck him with the khatvanga and brought him down on the ground. The remaining soldiers saw that Chanda and the extremely valiant Munda had been brought down. Afflicted by fear, they fled in different directions. Kali seized the heads of Chanda and Munda. She laughed loudly and approached Chandika. She said, “I have brought the large animals, Chanda and Munda, here to you. In the battle that is a sacrifice, you will yourself kill Shumbha and Nishumbha.” Seeing that Kali had brought the two large asuras, Chanda and Munda, the fortunate Chandika addressed her in these beautiful words. The goddess said, “O goddess! Since you have seized the giant asuras, Chanda and Munda, and have come, you will be famous in the world as Chamunda.”’”’

  Chapter 85

  ‘“The rishi said, ‘Chanda was killed and the da
itya Munda was brought down. Many soldiers were slaughtered. Shumbha, the powerful lord of the asuras, succumbed to great rage. He instructed that all the soldiers of the daityas should be got ready. “Let the eighty-six Udayudha 830 daityas march forth with all their forces now. Let the eighty-four Kambus 831 emerge, surrounding themselves with their own forces. Following my commands, let fifty lineages of Kotivirya 832 asuras and one hundred from the Dhumra 833 lineage emerge. Following my commands, let Kalaka, Dourhrida, Mourya and Kalakeya asuras ready themselves for battle and emerge.” Having instructed this, Shumbha, the lord of the asuras who was terrible in his rule, also emerged, surrounding himself with a large army consisting of many thousands of soldiers. Chandika saw this extremely dreadful army advance. She twanged her bowstring and filled the space between the earth and the firmament with that sound. O king! The lion also emitted an extremely loud roar. Ambika enhanced that sound with the sound of her bell. All the directions were filled with the sound of the twanging of the bow, the roaring of the lion and the sound of the bell. With a mouth gaping wide, Kali let out a terrible roar of victory. That sound filled the four directions. Hearing this, the daitya soldiers surrounded the goddess Kali and the lion with torrents of arrows. O lord of the earth! Meanwhile, so as to destroy the enemies of the gods and ensure the lion’s welfare, extremely strong and valiant energies separately issued from the bodies of Brahma, Isha, Guha, 834 Vishnu, Rudra and the other immortals and went in those forms to Chandika. The form of the energy was exactly like that of the respective god, with identical ornaments and mounts. These forms advanced, so as to fight with the asuras. Brahma’s energy arrived in the form of Brahmani. She was astride a vimana drawn by swans and held a waterpot and a string of aksha beads. Maheshvara’s energy arrived in the form of Maheshvari. She was astride a bull and held an excellent trident. A giant serpent was her bangle and her ornament was a digit of the moon. Kumara’s energy was in the form of Koumari. She was astride an excellent peacock. In Guha’s form, she arrived before Ambika, so as to fight with the daityas. Vishnu’s energy was in the form of Vaishnavi. She was stationed astride Garuda and advanced with a conch shell, a chakra, a mace, the Sharnga bow and a sword in her hands. Hari’s 835 energy was resplendent in the form of Varahi, an unmatched form fashioned from Varaha. She advanced in that dazzling form. Similarly, Nrisimha led to the radiant form of Narasimhi. As she arrived, the shaking of her mane scattered away clusters of nakshatras. Indra’s energy was in the form of Aindri, wielding a vajra in her hand and astride a king among elephants. She possessed one thousand eyes, just like Shakra. When she was surrounded by all those energies of the gods, Ishana told Chandika, “To please me, quickly slay the asuras.” At this, an extremely fierce energy emerged from Chandika’s body, howling like one hundred jackals together. The unvanquished one spoke to Ishana, whose hair was matted and smoky. “O illustrious one! As my messenger, please go to Shumbha and Nishumbha’s presence. Speak to Shumbha and Nishumbha, those two extremely insolent danavas, and to all the other danavas who have arrived here to fight. Indra will regain the three worlds and the gods will get back their shares in sacrifices. If you wish to live, leave for Patala. However, if you are proud of your strength and wish to fight, come before me. My jackals will be satisfied with your flesh.” Thus, the goddess appointed Shiva himself as her messenger. Thereafter, she became famous in the worlds by the name of Shivaduti. 836