mahiṣāsurasainyavadha

Meaning(Om Hrim. The Rishi said:) Of old there was a battle between the gods and the asuras, lasting a full hundred years, when Mahisha was lord of the asuras and Indra (Purandara) was lord of the gods.

MeaningIn it the army of the gods was vanquished by the mighty asuras; and having conquered all the gods, Mahishasura became Indra (lord of heaven).

MeaningThen the vanquished gods, placing Brahma the lotus-born Prajapati at their head, went to where Shiva and Vishnu (the Garuda-bannered) were.

MeaningThe gods related to the two, in full as it had happened, the doings of Mahishasura and the whole account of the gods' defeat:

Meaning'He himself directly usurps the offices of Surya, Indra, Agni, Vayu and Chandra, of Yama and Varuna, and of the others.

MeaningCast out of heaven by that evil-souled Mahisha, all the hosts of gods wander upon the earth like mortals.

MeaningAll this doing of the foe of the gods has been told to you; we have taken refuge in you — let the means of his slaying be devised.'

MeaningHearing thus the words of the gods, Vishnu (Madhusudana) grew wrathful, and Shambhu (Shiva) too, their faces bent with frowns.

MeaningThen from the mouth of Vishnu the discus-bearer, full of intense anger, came forth a great radiance, and so too from that of Brahma and of Shankara (Shiva).

MeaningFrom the bodies of the other gods too — Indra and the rest — issued a very great radiance, and it all merged into one.

MeaningThe gods beheld there an immense mass of radiance, like a blazing mountain, its flames filling the quarters of the sky.

MeaningThat peerless radiance, born of the bodies of all the gods, gathering into one place became a Woman, pervading the three worlds by her lustre.

MeaningFrom what was Shiva's radiance her face came to be; from Yama's, her hair; from Vishnu's radiance, her arms;

Meaningfrom Chandra's, the pair of her breasts; from Indra's, her waist; from Varuna's, her shanks and thighs; from the earth's radiance, her hips;

Meaningfrom Brahma's radiance, her feet; from the Sun's, her toes; from the Vasus', her fingers; and from Kubera's, her nose;

Meaningher teeth arose from Prajapati's radiance; her three eyes were born likewise from the radiance of Agni (Pavaka);

Meaningher two eyebrows from the radiance of the two twilights (Sandhyas), her ears from Vayu's; and the rising of the radiances of the other gods too was for the world's welfare.

MeaningThen, beholding her — sprung from the massed radiance of all the gods — the immortals tormented by Mahisha rejoiced. Then the gods gave her their own several weapons.

MeaningDrawing a trident out of his own trident, Pinakadhrik (Shiva) gave it to her; and Krishna (Vishnu) gave a discus, drawing it out of his own discus.

MeaningVaruna gave a conch; Agni (Hutashana) a spear (shakti); and Vayu (Maruta) gave a bow together with two quivers full of arrows.

MeaningIndra, lord of the gods, the thousand-eyed, drew a thunderbolt out of his own thunderbolt and gave it to her, and a bell from his elephant Airavata.

MeaningYama gave a staff from his staff of Death; Varuna, lord of waters, a noose; Prajapati gave a rosary, and Brahma a water-pot.

MeaningThe Sun (Divakara) set his own rays in all the pores of her skin; and Kala (Time) gave her a sword and a spotless shield.

MeaningThe Ocean of Milk gave a spotless necklace, a pair of ever-new garments, a divine crest-jewel, a pair of earrings and bracelets;

Meaninga bright half-moon ornament, armlets for all her arms, a pair of shining anklets, and a peerless neck-chain,

Meaningand jewelled rings for all her fingers. Vishvakarma gave her a very bright axe (parashu),

Meaningweapons of many kinds and impenetrable armour. The Ocean (Jaladhi) gave a garland of unfading lotuses for her head and another for her breast,

Meaningand an exceedingly beautiful lotus for her hand. Himavan (the Himalaya) gave a lion for her mount and jewels of many kinds;

Meaningthe lord of wealth (Kubera) gave a drinking-cup ever filled with wine; and Shesha, lord of all serpents, who upholds this earth, gave her

Meaninga serpent-necklace adorned with great gems. Thus honoured by these and by the other gods too with ornaments and weapons, the Goddess

Meaningroared aloud again and again with a great peal of laughter (attahasa). By her terrible roar the whole sky was filled,

Meaningand an immeasurably vast echo arose. All the worlds were shaken and the oceans trembled;

Meaningthe earth quaked and all the mountains moved. 'Victory!' the gods cried in joy to her, the lion-rider (Simhavahini).

MeaningThe sages, their forms bowed in devotion, extolled her. Seeing the whole three worlds agitated, the foes of the gods,

Meaningwith all their armies mustered, rose up together with weapons uplifted. 'Ah! What is this?' — so saying in wrath, Mahishasura

Meaningrushed towards that sound, surrounded by all the asuras. Then he beheld the Goddess, pervading the three worlds with her lustre,

Meaningmaking the earth bow beneath the tread of her foot, scraping the sky with her diadem, shaking all the nether worlds with the twang of her bowstring,

Meaningand standing there with her thousand arms pervading all the quarters on every side. Then began the battle between that Goddess and the foes of the gods,

Meaningthe quarters of the sky lit up by the many weapons and missiles hurled. Chikshura, the great asura, the general of Mahishasura's army,

Meaningand Chamara, attended by a fourfold army, and others fought; the great asura named Udagra with sixty thousand chariots,

Meaningand Mahahanu with ten million fought; the great asura Asiloma with fifty million,

Meaningand Bashkala with six million fought in the battle, surrounded by many thousands of elephants and horses,

Meaningand, encompassed by a crore of chariots, he fought in that battle. Bidala fought there surrounded by five hundred million chariots,

MeaningAnd others there, in their myriads, surrounded by chariots, elephants and horses,

Meaningthe great asuras fought there with the Goddess in the battle. And surrounded by thousands upon thousands of crores of chariots, of elephants

Meaningand of horses, Mahishasura was there in the battle. With iron clubs (tomaras) and slings (bhindipalas), with spears (shaktis) and pestles (musalas),

Meaningthey fought in the conflict with the Goddess, with swords and axe-blades (pattishas). Some hurled spears, and others nooses,

Meaningand they began to strike the Goddess with sword-blows to slay her. But that Goddess Chandika, raining her own weapons and missiles,

Meaningcut their weapons and missiles to pieces as if in mere play. With her face untroubled, while gods and sages extolled her,

Meaningthe Ishwari hurled her weapons and missiles upon the bodies of the asuras. And that lion, her mount, shaking its mane in fury,

Meaningstalked among the asura armies like fire among forests. And the breaths that Ambika heaved as she fought in the battle —

Meaningthose very breaths at once became hosts (ganas) by the hundreds and thousands. These fought with axes, slings, swords and axe-blades,

Meaningdestroying the hosts of asuras, strengthened by the Devi's power. Some of these hosts beat war-drums (patahas), others blew conches,

Meaningand others mridangas, in that great festival of war. Then the Goddess, with her trident, her mace, and showers of spears,

Meaningwith sword and the like, slew the great asuras by hundreds, and laid low others bewildered by the clangour of her bell;

Meaningand binding yet other asuras on the ground with her noose, she dragged them along. Some were split in two by sharp sword-strokes, others

Meaningsmashed down by the blow of her mace, lay upon the earth; and some, sorely struck by her pestle, vomited blood.

MeaningOthers fell to the ground pierced in the breast by her trident; and some, riddled by the stream of her arrows on the battlefield,

Meaninggave up their lives, those tormentors of the gods, dropping like (swift) hawks. The arms of some were severed, others had their necks cut off,

Meaningthe heads of others rolled down, others were torn asunder in the middle; and other great asuras fell to the earth with their legs cut off.

MeaningSome were made two-fold by the Devi though (left) with one arm, one eye and one foot; and others, though their heads were severed, fell yet rose again.

MeaningHeadless trunks (kabandhas), grasping the finest weapons, fought with the Devi; and others danced there in the battle, keeping time to the war-music.

MeaningHeadless trunks, sword, spear and lance in hand, and other great asuras, kept crying 'Stop! Stop!' to the Devi.

MeaningBy the fallen chariots, elephants, horses and asuras, the earth there — where that great battle took place — became impassable.

MeaningGreat rivers of streaming blood flowed forth at once there, in the midst of the army of the asuras, their elephants and horses.

MeaningIn a moment Ambika brought that great army of the asuras to destruction, as fire consumes a vast heap of grass and wood.

MeaningAnd that lion, shaking its mane and uttering a mighty roar, roamed about as if seeking out the very life-breaths from the bodies of the gods' foes.

MeaningSuch was the battle waged there by the Devi's hosts and by the asuras that the gods, showering flowers from the sky, were greatly pleased with them.