The battlefield was filled to the brim with demons of all shapes and sizes. They had sprung up with such alacrity that it took Goddess Durga by surprise. She had been in battle with the army of Shumbh and Nishumbh, the two brothers who had usurped the kingdom of the devas. Besides, they had a boon from Brahma that neither men nor asuras could vanquish them. Since no force seemed to work against the asuras, help from the primordial energy—Shakti—was sought. Parvati took the form of Durga, riding on a lion, to overcome this strong, almost invincible adversary.
The goddess was unstoppable. She had already vanquished Chand, Mund and Dhumralochan. It seemed the asuras were on the edge of a precipice. The end was well nigh near. However, Shumbh wasn’t one to give up so easily. That’s when he called upon his fierce ally, Raktabeej, to fight on their behalf.
The moment Goddess Durga attacked Raktabeej, she realised how formidable an opponent this asura was, for every drop of his blood that spilled on the ground gave birth to many danavs. Even though Raktabeej was grievously injured, there were thousands of other danavs to battle. She immediately invoked Goddess Kali. Even as Durga attached Raktabeej, Kali with her tongue, swooped every drop off the air, even before it could touch the ground and drank it. Finally, not only Raktabeej, but even Shumbh and Nishumbh were killed.
However, the primordial energy had other major hurdles to cross, one among them being the asura Mahisasur, who was another adversity she found hard to combat. A shapeshifter, Mahisasur kept turning into a boar, a lion, and a buffalo, making it hard for the goddess to overpower him. However, she managed to overcome the asura, and using her trident, killed Mahisasur.
Shumbh, Nishumbh, Raktabeej and Mahisasur are present at all times, both in our society and deep within us. They come in the form of ignorance, ego and conceit, each cropping up inside us ever so frequently that we have no idea about their existence until they become extremely formidable. However, fret not, for the goddess is also present in us. May we realise both these facets of our existence and invoke the primordial energy to vanquish the innumerable asuras, lest they keep cropping up, and in different forms.
Rajessh M. Iyer is a storyteller who explores human relationships through meaningful anecdotes, parables, and stories; he shares his work on www.rajesshmiyer.com.