Devi Mahatmyam Excerpts
Chapter 2: The Slaughter of Mahiṣāsura’s Armies
2.1The seer said:
2.2“Long ago, when Mahiṣa was chief of the asuras and Indra was chief of the gods, there was a war between their forces for a full hundred years.
2.3The valorous asuras vanquished the army of the gods, and after all were conquered, Mahiṣa became the lord of heaven.
2.4Then led by Brahmā, the lord of beings, the defeated gods went to Viṣṇu and Śiva
2.5and related in detail what had happened. The thirty gods told how Mahiṣāsura had wrought their defeat:
2.6‘He has usurped the authority of Sūrya, Indra, Agni, Vāyu, and Candra, and of Yama, Varuṇa, and all the others.
2.7Cast out from heaven by the evil Mahiṣa, all the multitudes of gods wander over the earth as mere mortals.
2.8We have related all that this foe of the gods has done, and we seek refuge in You. Be pleased to devise a means for his destruction.’
2.9When Viṣṇu and Śiva heard the entreaties of the gods, they knit their brows in fury and contorted their faces,
2.10whereupon a great radiance came forth from Viṣṇu’s rage- filled countenance, and so, too, from Brahmā’s and Śiva’s.
2.11And from Indra’s body and from the bodies of all the other gods, a very great light issued, and it united and became one.
2.12The gods saw before them a peak of light like a mountain, blazing brightly and pervading the sky in every direction with its flames.
2.13Unequaled light, born from the bodies of all the gods, coalesced into a female form and pervaded the three worlds with its splendor.
2.14From Śiva’s light came that which formed the Devī’s face. Yama’s radiance formed Her hair, and Viṣṇu’s effulgence became Her arms.
2.15The moon god’s soft light formed Her breasts, and Indra’s brilliance became Her waist. Varuṇa’s light became Her legs, and earth’s splendor formed Her hips.
2.16Her feet took shape from Brahmā’s light and Her toes from Sūrya’s brilliance. From the Vasus’ light Her fingers formed and from Kubera’s light, Her nose.
2.17From Prajāpati’s lustre came Her teeth, and from Agni’s radiance Her three eyes were born.
2.18Dawn and dusk became Her eyebrows, the wind god’s splendor shaped Her ears, and all else born of the other gods’ light shone too as the auspicious Devī.
2.19Then, beholding Her who appeared from out of their amassed light, all those gods, tormented by Mahiṣa, rejoiced.
2.20Then the gods bestowed on Her their own weapons and adornments. From his trident Śiva drew forth another and gave it to Her,
2.21and Viṣṇu bestowed a discus spun out from his own. Varuṇa gave Her a conch; and Agni, the eater of oblations, gave Her a spear.
2.22Vāyu, the wind god, presented a bow and two quivers filled with arrows. Extracting a thunderbolt from his own, Indra, the lord of the immortals,
2.23the all-seeing one, gave it to Her along with a bell from his elephant Airāvata. From his staff of death Yama produced another staff, and Varuṇa, the lord of waters, gave a noose.
2.24Brahmā, the lord of beings, gave prayer beads and an ascetic’s waterpot. Sūrya, the bringer of day, bestowed his rays of sunlight on all the pores of Her skin;
2.25and Kāla, the lord of time, presented a sword and shining shield. The ocean of milk bestowed a necklace of flawless pearls, ever-new garments,
2.26a celestial crest-jewel, earrings, and bracelets, a radiant crescent-shaped ornament, armlets for all Her arms,
2.27a pair of shining anklets, a necklace beyond compare, and bejeweled rings for all Her fingers.
2.28Viśvakarman gave Her a gleaming ax, weapons of all kinds, and impenetrable armor.
2.29Garlands of unfading lotuses for Her head and breast the ocean gave to Her, and yet another magnificent lotus to grace Her hand.
2.30Himālaya, the lord of mountains, gave Her a lion to ride upon and jewels of many kinds; and Kubera, the lord of wealth, presented a drinking vessel ever-brimming with wine.
2.31Śeṣa, the lord of serpents, who supports this earth, gave Her a garland of snakes, adorned with precious gems.
2.32Honored also by the other gods with adornments and weapons, the Devī laughed thunderously and defiantly again and again.
2.33She filled the entire sky with Her terrible roar, and from the immeasurable din a great echo resounded.
2.34All the worlds shook, and the oceans churned. The earth quaked, and the mountains heaved.
2.35In joy the gods exclaimed, ‘Victory!’ to the lion-mounted Devī; and with bodies bowed in devotion, the sages praised Her.
2.36When the enemies of the gods saw the three worlds in upheaval, they readied all their forces for battle and rose up as one, with weapons held high.
2.37‘Aha! What is this?’ Mahiṣāsura bellowed in wrath. Surrounded by countless asuras, he rushed toward the sound
2.38and then beheld the Devī, who pervaded the three worlds with Her radiance, bending the earth under Her tread, scraping the sky with Her diadem,
2.39shaking all the nether regions with the resonance of Her bowstring, and standing there, penetrating every direction with Her thousand arms.
2.40Thereupon, the battle began between the Devī and the enemies of the gods. Swords and missiles, hurled in every direction, lit up the quarters of the sky.
2.41Mahiṣāsura’s general, the great asura named Cikṣura, battled there, and Cāmara led cavalry, charioteers, elephant-drivers, and foot soldiers.
2.42The great asura called Udagra commanded sixty thousand chariots, Mahāhanu gave battle with his ten million,
2.43and the mighty Asiloman fought with forces fifty million strong. With sixty million Bāṣkala fought in the conflict.
2.44Encircled by streaming multitudes of elephants and horses, Parivārita fought in that battle with ten million chariots,
2.45and he who is called Biḍāla, with five billion chariots surrounding him, engaged in combat there.
2.46Amid chariots, elephants, and horses, myriads of other great asuras battled with the Devī,
2.47their countless chariots, elephants, and horses surrounding Māhiṣāsura there in the fray.
2.48With lances and javelins, spears and clubs, swords and axes, and sharp-edged spears, they fought with the Devī.
2.49Some hurled spears while others threw nooses; intent on killing Her, they began an assault with their swords.
2.50But She, the Devī Caṇḍikā, showered down all manner of weapons and cut through their armaments as if in play.
2.51Praised by gods and seers, She remained serene, even while unleashing Her weapons at the asuras’ bodies.
2.52Her lion-mount, shaking its mane in fury, stalked among the demon throngs as fire rages through a Forest.
2.53The sighs that Ambikā heaved while fighting became at once Her legions by the hundreds and thousands.
2.54They fought with axes, javelins, swords, and sharp- edged spears, and drawing strength from Her power, they destroyed the demon hordes.
2.55Some of Her throngs beat war drums resoundingly, some blew conches, and others drummed upon tabors in their zest for battle.
2.56Then the Devī, with Her trident, club, and volleys of spears, with Her swords and other weapons, slew great asuras by the hundreds
2.57and brought down still more with the confounding din of Her bell. Binding other asuras with Her noose, She dragged them along the ground.
2.58Her swordstrokes slashed others in two, while crushing blows from Her mace brought still more down,
2.59and those bludgeoned by Her club vomited forth blood. Others fell to the ground, pierced through the chest by Her trident.
2.60Her steady stream of arrows made some on that battlefield resemble bristling porcupines, and those tormenters of the gods breathed their last.
2.61Some had their arms severed, others their necks broken. The heads of others rolled, and still others had their bodies ripped apart.
2.62Great asuras, their legs cut from under them, toppled to the ground. Some, severed lengthwise by the Devī, were left one-armed, one-eyed, one-legged.
2.63While others there in the battle danced to the throbbing drums, those that She decapitated fell and rose again,
2.64headless bodies, still grasping swords, spears, and lances in hand. ‘Stop! Stop!’ other great asuras cried out to the Devī.
2.65Where that great battle raged, the earth was impassable with fallen chariots, elephants, horses, and corpses.
2.66Torrents of blood, like mighty rivers, gushed from elephants, asuras, and horses there in the midst of the demon army.
2.67In an instant, Ambikā led that vast legion of foes to its destruction, as quickly as fire consumes a heap of straw and wood.
2.68And Her lion, roaring thunderously and shaking its mane, prowled about in search of life- breath still issuing from the enemies’ bodies.
2.69So did the Devī’s hosts wage war against the asuras. So also did the gods in heaven shower down flowers in praise.”
Chapter 3: The Slaying of Mahiṣāsura
3.1The seer said:
3.2“Now when he saw the army being slaughtered, Cikṣura, the great asura general, went forth in fury to battle with Ambikā.
3.3He rained showers of arrows on the Devī in the combat, just as a raincloud showers the summit of Mount Meru.
3.4But easily shattering his volley, the Devī killed his steeds and charioteer with Her arrows.
3.5Like lightning, She slashed through his bow and highflying banner. Having destroyed his bow, She wounded him in the limbs with Her swift arrows.
3.6With bow broken, chariot wrecked, and horses and charioteer slain, the asura, armed with sword and shield, rushed at the Devī.
3.7First striking Her lion on the head with his sharp-edged sword, he violently struck the Devī’s left arm.
3.8O king, as soon as the sword touched Her, it shattered. Then, the great asura, his eyes red with rage, seized his blazing lance
3.9and flung it at Bhadrakālī, as though he were hurling the very sun from the sky.
3.10Seeing it approach, the Devī released Her lance and shattered the great asura and his weapon into a hundred pieces.
3.11When Mahiṣa’s mighty general lay slain, Cāmara, the afflictor of the gods, advanced, mounted on an elephant.
3.12He dispatched his spear toward the Devī. Quickly Ambikā’s contemptuous outcry sent it hurtling powerless to the ground.
3.13Seeing it fallen and shattered, the enraged Cāmara flung a lance, and that, too, She destroyed with Her arrows.
3.14Her lion then leapt up and, astride the elephant’s forehead, engaged fiercely in direct combat with the enemy of the gods.
3.15Struggling, the two fell from the elephant to the ground, still locked in dreadful combat.
3.16In a flash the lion sprang skyward, then alighted and severed Cāmara’s head with a single blow of its paw.
3.17In the fighting the Devī assailed the asura Udagra with rocks and trees; and biting, punching, and slapping Karāla, She felled him, too.
3.18Enraged, the Devī crushed Uddhata to a pulp with the blows of Her mace. She killed Bāṣkala with Her javelin and Tāmra and Andhaka with Her arrows,
3.19and with Her trident the supreme three-eyed Goddess slew Ugrāsya, Ugravīrya, and also Mahāhanu.
3.20With Her sword She struck Biḍāla’s head from his body, and with Her arrows She dispatched both Durdhara and Durmukha to the abode of death.
3.21While his army thus met destruction, Mahiṣāsura terrified the Devī’s hosts with his own buffalo form,
3.22jostling some with his snout and pawing others with his hooves. Others he lashed with his tail and lacerated with his horns.
3.23He toppled some of them to the ground with the unleashed force of his bellowing and wheeling about, and the blast of his breath brought still others down.
3.24After destroying the great Goddess’s forces, Mahiṣāsura rushed forward to slay Her lion. At that, Ambikā became enraged.
3.25But Mahiṣāsura, great in valor, struck the earth angrily with his hooves, flung mountains skyward with his horns, and bellowed frightfully.
3.26Under his frenzied wheeling, the trampled earth broke apart. Lashed by his tail, the ocean overflowed all around.
3.27Thrashed by his horns, the clouds fragmented and dispersed. Tossed about on his blasting breath, mountains by the hundreds fell from the sky.
3.28When She saw the great asura approaching, inflated with rage, Caṇḍikā aroused Her wrath and prepared to slay him.
3.29She threw Her noose over him and bound him. Fettered thus in the fierce battle, the great asura left his buffalo form
3.30and assumed the shape of a lion. No sooner had Ambikā severed his head than he appeared as a man with sword in hand.
3.31Instantly, with Her arrows the Devī cut him to shreds along with his sword and shield. Then he took the form of a great elephant
3.32and dragged Her mighty lion along with his trunk, but while he trumpeted loudly, the Devī chopped off his trunk with Her sword.
3.33Once more the great asura assumed his buffalo form and caused the three worlds, with all that is moving and unmoving, to tremble.
3.34Angered, Caṇḍikā, the Mother of the worlds, drank a divine potion, and with eyes reddened She laughed again and again.
3.35The asura bellowed in return, intoxicated with his own might and valor, and with his horns he hurled mountains at Caṇḍikā.
3.36Her volley of arrows reduced them to dust. Her face flushed with inebriation from the divine drink, and She addressed him excitedly.
3.37The Devī said:
3.38‘Bellow, you fool, bellow for now while I drink this potion. After I have slain you, the gods will cheer in this very place.”’
3.39The seer said:
3.40“Having declared that, She leapt upon the great asura, pinned his neck down with Her foot, and pierced him through with Her spear.
3.41Trapped there under the Devī’s foot and crushed by Her might, he emerged half-way in his true form from his buffalo mouth.
3.42Half-revealed and fighting still, that great asura fell to the Devī, beheaded by Her great sword.
3.43Then crying out in alarm, the whole demon army perished, and all the divine hosts exulted.
3.44Together with the great heavenly seers the gods praised the Devī, the celestial musicians sang, and throngs of cloud-nymphs danced.
Chapter 4: Praise by Indra and the Other Gods
4.1The seer said:
4.2“When The Devī Had Struck Down the brave but wicked mahiṣāsura and his army of the Gods’ foes, Indra and the hosts of Gods lifted their voices to Her in praise, their heads bowed in reverence, their bodies made beautiful by the thrill of rapture.
4.3‘To The Devī, Who Spreads Out this world Through Her Own Power and Who Embodies Herself As All The Powers of the hosts of Gods;
to Ambikā, Who Is Worthy of worship by all the Gods and great seers, we bow down in devotion. May She Grant us that which is Auspicious.
4.4May She Whose Unequalled Might and Splendor even the blessed Viṣṇu, Brahmā, and Śiva are powerless to describe,
May She, Caṇḍikā, Be Intent on Protecting all the world and on Destroying the fear of misfortune.
4.5O Devī, we bow before You
Who Are Yourself Good Fortune in the dwellings of the virtuous and
Misfortune in the abodes of the wicked,
Intelligence in the hearts of the learned,
Faith in the hearts of the good, and
Modesty in the hearts of the high-born.
May You Protect the universe!
4.6How can we describe This Form Of Yours, Which Surpasses thought?
And Your Abundant, Exceeding Valor That destroys evil?
And Your Deeds in battle, O Devī, among all the throngs of Gods and demons?
4.7You Are The Cause of all the worlds.
Though Containing The triple forces of creation Within Yourself, You Are Untouched by any imperfection.
You Are Unfathomable even to Viṣṇu, Śiva, and the other Gods.
You Are The Resort of all. You Are This Entire, Manifold World and You Are Primordial Matter, Supreme And Untransformed.
Chapter 8: The Slaying of Raktabīja
8.1ṛṣir uvāca (The seer said)
8.2“After caṇḍa was killed, muṇḍa slain, and the vast armies annihilated, the lord of asuras
8.3burned with rage. His reason overcome, śumbha ordered the marshaling of all the demon hosts:
8.4‘Now let the daitya clans with all their troops go forth, the eighty-six udāyudha and the eighty-four kambu families, together with their forces.
8.5Let the fifty koṭivīrya families and the hundred dhaumra clans depart at my command
8.6So also at my command, let the kālaka, daurhṛda, maurya, and kālakeya asuras set out in haste, armed for battle.’
8.7Having issued his orders, śumbha, the despotic lord of asuras, went forth, attended by many thousands of mighty troops.
8.8Seeing that most formidable army approach, Caṇḍikā Filled the space between earth and sky with the resonance of Her Bowstring
8.9Thereupon Her lion emitted a deafening roar, O king, and Ambikā Heightened the noise with Her Clanging Bell.
8.10Kālī Drowned out the din of bowstring, lion, and bell, filling every direction With Terrifying Howls from Her Gaping Mouth.
8.11Hearing the tumult, the enraged demon armies closed in on The Devī, Her lion, and Kālī from all four sides.
8.12O king, at that very moment, to insure the well-being of the supreme Gods and to annihilate their adversaries, surpassingly brave and powerful
8.13śaktis, the Gods’ embodied powers, sprang forth from the bodies of Brahmā, Śiva, Skanda, Viṣṇu, and Indra, mirroring the form of each. They approached Caṇḍikā.
8.14Whatever that God’s form was, whatever his adornments and his mount, in that very form his śakti went forth to combat the asuras.
8.15In a celestial chariot drawn by swans, Brahmā’s śakti came forth with prayer beads and waterpot in hand. She is called Brahmāṇī.
8.16Māheśvarī arrived astride a bull, holding the finest trident, wearing great serpents for bracelets, and adorned with the crescent moon.
8.17Ambikā, having the war God’s form and riding a fine peacock, came forth as Kaumārī with spear in hand to fight against the daityas.
8.18Likewise the śakti Vaiṣṇavī, mounted on Garuda, approached holding conch, discus, mace, bow, and sword.
8.19The śakti of Hari, Who Bears the Unique Form of The Sacrificial Boar, Came Forward As Vārāhī in that Boarlike Aspect.
8.20Nārasiṁhī, resembling Viṣṇu’s embodiment as a man-lion, arrived there, scattering the constellations with the toss of Her Mane.
8.21Thousand-eyed like Indra, and in like manner with thunderbolt in hand, Aindrī Arrived Riding on the lord of elephants.
8.22Then Śiva, surrounded by those śaktis of the Gods, said to Caṇḍikā, ‘Let the asuras quickly be slain for My satisfaction.’
8.23Thereupon from The Devī’s Body there issued Forth Caṇḍikā’s Own Terrifying śakti, savage in Her Fury and Howling like a hundred jackals.
8.24And She, The Unvanquished One, said to Śiva of dark, matted locks, ‘Go, My Lord, as My Messenger to śumbha and niśumbha.
8.25Say to those two arrogant dānavas, śumbha and niśumbha, and to the other dānavas assembled there for battle:
8.26“Indra must regain the three worlds, the Gods must again enjoy the sacrificial oblations, and you must return to the nether world if you wish to live.
8.27But if through the conceit of strength you are desirous of battle, then come and let My jackals be satiated with your flesh!”’
8.28Since The Devī appointed Śiva himself as messenger, She Has Come to be Known in this world As Śivadūtī.
8.29Hearing Śiva declare The Devī’s words, the great asuras were filled with indignation and went to where Kātyāyanī stood.
8.30At the outbreak of battle, the Gods’ adversaries, arrogant in their anger, rained torrents of arrows, spears, and lances upon The Devī.
8.31And She, with great arrows shot from Her resounding bow, playfully split asunder their hurtling arrows, lances, spears, and axes.
8.32Kālī Roamed about the battlefront, Slashing Her enemies to Shreds with Her Spear and Crushing them with Her Skull-Topped Staff
8.33And Brahmāṇī, wherever She Went, left Her enemies sapped of strength, disabled by the holy water sprinkled from Her waterpot.
8.34Māheśvarī Slew the daityas with Her Trident; so, too, did Vaiṣṇavī with Her Discus, Kaumārī with Her Spear, and the Wrathful
8.35Aindrī with Her Thunderbolt. Daityas and dānavas, torn asunder, fell by the hundreds, discharging torrents of blood upon the earth.
8.36They fell, scattered by Blows from Vārāhī’s Boarlike Snout, Pierced through the chest by Her Tusks, and Ripped apart by Her Discus.
8.37Nārasiṁhī, Tearing other great asuras apart with Her Claws and Devouring them, Roamed about the battlefield, Filling the sky with Her Roars.
8.38Dazed by Śivadūtī’s violent Laughter, the asuras fell to the ground, and She Devoured those fallen ones.
8.39When the enemy troops saw the enraged Band Of Mothers Crushing the mighty asuras by diverse means, they fled.
8.40Seeing the remaining daityas flee, Tormented thus By The Band Of Mothers, the great asura raktabīja went forth in anger to do battle.
8.41Whenever a drop of blood fell from his body to the ground, an asura of like measure would rise up from the earth.
8.42With club in hand the great asura fought with Indra’s śakti. Then Aindrī Struck raktabīja with Her Thunderbolt.
8.43Blood streamed in torrents from the stricken asura, and from that blood rose up warriors of identical form and might.
8.44As many drops of blood fell from his body, so many beings of equal valor, strength, and courage arose,
8.45and those who sprang up from his blood battled there with The Mothers ever more fiercely, hurling the most formidable of weapons.
8.46When The Devī’s Thunderbolt Struck raktabīja’s head, blood flowed again, and from it asuras were born by the thousands
8.47In the combat Vaiṣṇavī Attacked the lord of asuras with Her Discus, and Aindri Beat him with Her Mace.
8.48Blood flowed from the cuts of Vaiṣṇavī’s Discus, and there from great asuras of equal measure arose by the thousands and filled the world.
8.49Kaumārī with Her Spear, Vārāhī with Her Sword, and Māheśvarī with Her Trident Struck the great asura Raktabīja,
8.50and he, the mighty, rage-filled daitya, struck All The Mothers one by one with his club.
8.51Out of the blood that streamed upon the earth from the relentless wounds of spear, lance, and other weapons, asuras sprang up by the hundreds,
8.52and those demons born from this one demon’s flowing blood pervaded all the world. Utter terror seized the Gods.
8.53Caṇḍikā Burst into Laughter at their despair and said to Kālī, ‘O Cāmuṇḍā, open wide your mouth
8.54and quickly drink in the drops of blood from my weapons’ blows and the great asuras born therefrom.
8.55Roam about on the battlefield and devour the great demons sprung from Raktabīja. So shall this daitya, drained of blood, go to his destruction.
8.56As You Consume those fierce asuras, others shall not arise.’ Having Spoken thus, The Devī Attacked raktabīja with Her Lance,
8.57while Kālī avidly Lapped up his blood. raktabīja turned upon Caṇḍikā with his club,
8.58but his cudgel blows caused Her not even the slightest pain. From his beaten body blood flowed copiously
8.59in every direction, and Cāmuṇḍā Engulfed it with Her Mouth. And within Her Mouth those great asuras who sprang into being from the flow,
8.60Cāmuṇḍā Devoured, while also Drinking his blood.
8.61The Devī Assailed raktabīja with Lance, Thunderbolt, Arrows, Swords, and Spears while Cāmuṇḍā Drank his blood.
8.62O king, battered by that Array Of Weapons and drained of blood, the great asura raktabīja fell to the ground.