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Durga and the Buffalo Demon
The buffalo demon, Mahisha stomped across the three worlds, kicking
up dust, polluting the earth and sea.
Neither Indra, king of gods, nor Kumara, commander of the celestial
armies could stop him. In despair the gods called on
Vishnu
for help.
Vishnu confronted the demon Mahisha
first as Narasimha the man lion and then as
Varaha, the boar, but each time he
failed to subdue the demon.
Shiva, the supreme ascetic,
disturbed by the violence opened his third eye unleashing the fire
of doom. Even the power of
Shiva’s third eye capable of
destroying the three worlds could not arrest Mahisha’s march.
“Nothing can stop Mahisha now: he will soon control the universe and
make Nature dance to his tunes,” said Brahma the creator.
“It will never be so, Nature can never be conquered,” said
Brahma as his divine strength, his
shakti, emerged from his body in
the form of the goddess Brahmi. She rode a swan and held books
of wisdom in her hands.
Simultaneously, the
shaktis of the other gods emerged
taking female forms. From Indra, rose Indrani bearing a
thunderbolt, riding an elephant, from Kumara rose Kaumari holding a
lance and riding a peacock, from
Vishnu rose Vaishanavi on an eagle
with a discus whirling on her finger, from
Varaha came the sharp tusk sow
Varahi, from
Shiva came Shiavani riding a bull
bearing a trident.
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The seven
shaktis, unrestrained by the bodies of
the gods, were fearsome beings – unbridled, untamed, restless energies
of the cosmos. They would not submit to the authority of any man,
beast or god, let alone a demon.
They rose to the sky and merged with each other in a blinding light.
The sounds of the conchs, drums and bells filled the air. With
bated breath, the gods watched the light. From the heavenly light
arose a beautiful goddess.
“Who are you?” asked the gods.
“I am
Durga, the inaccessible one,” replied
the goddess. “I am Prakriti, the substance that gives form and
identity to all things. I am Shakti, the power that enables all
creatures to exist, to feel, think, act and react. I am Maya, the
delusion that makes life alluring yet elusive.”
The gods saluted the great goddess. “Give me your weapons and I
shall destroy he who seeks to dominate me,” said the great goddess.
The goddess acquiesced.
Shiva gave his trident, Vishnu his
discus and mace, Indra his thunderbolt, Kurmara his lance, Brahma his
bow. Then mounting a lion,
Durga prepared for battle.
News of
Durga, the beautiful goddess who
resides upon a mountain, mount Meru, reached Mahisha. “She shall
be my queen,” declared the buffalo demon. He ordered his two
generals, Chanda and Munda, to fetch her.
Chanda and Munda placed the Buffalo Demon's marriage proposal before
Durga.
Durga did not reply. The demons
viewed this as insubordination and threatened
Durga. The mighty goddess
responded by swinging her sword in one grand sweep she cut off both the
generals heads.
The violent rejection of his marriage proposal enraged Mahisha.
“Bring that proud woman before me in chains and I shall show her who is
master.”
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A hundred thousand asuras armed with bows, arrows, spears and swords
surrounded Mount Meru, determined to capture
Durga. They marched up the mountain,
before long a hundred thousand demon heads were seen rolling down Mount
Meru smearing its slopes red.
Durga drank the blood of the demons.
Seizing a lute and drum she made music to celebrate her victory.
Humiliated by the defeat Mahisha asked, “Why won’t you marry me, am I
not lord of the three worlds?”
“I shall marry only he who defeats me in battle,” revealed the goddess.
“Then let us fight,” responded the buffalo demon.
A great battle commenced. Mountains shook, oceans trembled,
clouds scattered across the sky, as the buffalo demon attacked
Durga. He rushed towards her,
sometimes as a buffalo, sometimes as a lion, sometimes as an
elephant. The goddess broke the buffalo’s horns with her mace,
sheared the lion’s mane with her lance, cut the elephant’s trunk
with her sword.
Weapon after weapon, when hurled at the buffalo demon, but each time
he managed to rise up undefeated.
Realizing that her weapons had no effect on Mahisha,
Durga threw them aside, dismounted from
her lion and with her bare hands sprang upon Mahisha’s back.
With her tender feet she kicked his head. The demon, immune to
the weapons of all the gods, fell senseless at the touch of
Durga’s feet.
Durga then raised her trident and
plunged it into the buffalo demons heart conquering the
unconquerable.
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Durga Statues
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