An Asura.

--- Birth --- Mark Title as "empty".

. Long ago there was a famous असुर King named दनु . Two sons named रम्भ and करम्भ were born to him. Having no issue, they decided to worship मालवट यक्ष , praying to be blessed with children. They started तपस् , करम्भ , in the middle of water and रम्भ in the middle of पञ्चाग्नि . इन्द्र was alarmed at their तपस् . He took the form of a crocodile and went into the water in which करम्भ was standing and caught hold of his feet, pulling him down. करम्भ was drowned. The mighty रम्भ who was enraged at the death of his brother, decided to cut off his own head and offer it as sacrifice in the fire. He drew his sword and was about to cut off his head, when अग्नि , the god of fire, appeared before him and stopped him saying:--"Do not kill yourself. Killing another person itself is a sin. Suicide is a more serious sin. Ask for any boon you wish to have; I shall grant it. Do not put an end to your life."

Then Rambha replied:-- "If you are prepared to grant me a boon, let me have a son who is more brilliant than yourself and who will be the conqueror of all the three worlds. He should not be defeated by Devas or Asuras, and he should be as mighty as the wind, handsome and an expert archer." अग्नि replied:"You will have such a son by the woman who wins your heart".

When god अग्नि had left after saying this, रम्भ went to visit मालयक्ष , who was attended to by यक्षस् . There, they had a treasure known as पद्म and numerous animals like elephants, horses, buffaloes, cows and sheep. Among them was a three-year-old shebuffalo of exceptional charm and रम्भ fell in love with her. She was also irresistibly attracted by him. As fate would have it, a sexual union took place between them.

The she-buffalo became pregnant and रम्भ took her with him to his own house in पाताल . There, the other दानवस् , his kinsmen who came to know of his connection with the she-buffalo, expelled him from their midst as one who had committed a forbidden act. So he returned to मालवटयक्ष . The pretty shebuffalo accompanied her husband to the holy यक्षमण्डल .

While they were living there, she gave birth to an attractive buffalo-calf. After that a he-buffalo came across her. But she remained loyal to her दानव husband who drew his sword and rushed towards the he-buffalo. The terrible beast with his mighty horns attacked रम्भ who fell dead on the ground. The widowed महिषी (she-buffalo) sought the protection of the यक्षस् . They saved her from the महिष (He-buffalo). The disappointed and love-stricken महिष drowned himself in a holy lake and was reborn as a mighty and heroic असुर named नमर . The महिषी spent some time under the protection of the यक्षस् . When they cremated रम्भऽस् body, she jumped into the funeral pyre and burnt herself to death. At once from the middle of the fire there arose a monstrous being. That terrible monster, armed with a sword drove away the यक्षस् and killed all the महिषस् . महिष who was the son of रम्भ alone was spared. He was the असुर named रक्तबीज . He defeated all gods like इन्द्र , रुद्र , सूर्य , वायु and others.

महिषासुर became the King of the असुरस् . The alarmed देवस् (gods) abandoned their posts of honour. All the worlds were plunged in darkness. (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17) .

Mahiṣāsura's Reign

महिषासुर who was intoxicated with pride on account of the boon he had received, became the undisputed and sole emperor of the three worlds. He formed a strong council of Ministers. चिक्षुर who was puffed with pride and an expert in military Science, was installed as War-Minister and ताम्र , the gifted economist as Finance Minister. The Prime Minister was असिलोमा . बिडाल was Foreign Minister. उदर्क became Military Commander. बाष्कल , त्रिनेत्र and कालबन्धक were assigned the posts of Members of the Executive Council. शुक्राचार्य was the Education Minister. महिष strengthened his army. The State Treasury overflowed with wealth. Kings of the neighbouring states paid tribute and bowed their heads to him. The ब्राह्मणस् offered the share of यज्ञ to महिषासुर and prostrated before him. (Devī Bhāgavata, 5th Skandha) .

Outbreak of War

After strengthening his position as Emperor of the world, महिष contemplated the conquest of Heaven. He sent a messenger to इन्द्र . The messenger ordered इन्द्र to surrender to महिषासुर . इन्द्र answered with utter contempt to the messenger and his master महिष . The messenger returned and reported the matter to महिषासुर who began to tremble with anger.

Although Indra sent away the messenger with scorn, he had no peace of mind. He called together the देवस् and discussed what was to be done. They decided to declare war on महिषासुर . ब्रह्मा and इन्द्र , accompanied by the other देवस् set out to कैलास . From there, taking परमशिव with them, they proceeded to वैकुण्ठ . On arrival there, they offered prayers to महाविष्णु who appeared before them. They submitted to him their grievances and sufferings under the rule of महिषासुर . After deep deliberations, महाविष्णु supported the proposal for war. Thus the war between देवस् and असुरस् started.

देवासुर युद्ध

It was a dreadful war. महिष himself appeared on the scene of battle. He struck at इन्द्र with his mighty club. Before he received the blow, इन्द्र broke the club with his Thunderbolt. The असुर named अन्धक encountered महाविष्णु . The five arrows of that असुर were broken to pieces by महाविष्णु in the sky itself. Then they started a terrible fight with various weapons such as sword, spear, axe, arrow, discus etc. It lasted for about 50 days without a break. बाष्कल fought against इन्द्र , महिष against रुद्र , त्रिनेत्र against यमधर्म , महाहनु against श्रीद , and असिलोमा against प्रचेतस् . In the course of the battle, अन्धक , struck a blow at गरुड with his cudgel. गरुड , the vehicle of विष्णु was stunned by the blow, but विष्णु restored his energy by stroking him gently with his right hand. After that he took up his bow शार्ङ्ग and tried to kill अन्धक with a shower of arrows. But the दैत्य warrior countered all of them with 50 arrows which he shot at विष्णु . विष्णु smashed all of them and sent his destructive weapon " सुदर्शन चक्र " against अन्धक . Without the slightest fear, अन्धक stopped it with his own चक्र weapon and kept विष्णु 's weapon at bay and shouted in triumph. Finding that विष्णु 's weapon had failed and hearing the scornful shout of अन्धक , the Devas were filled with panic. At this critical moment, विष्णु took up his club " कौमोदकी " and rushed into the midst of the असुरस् and struck अन्धक with it. Under the blow, the असुर hero reeled and fell down unconscious. At his fall, महिष himself rushed forward to विष्णु with a terrible roar. Then there ensued a bitter fight between विष्णु and महिष . Each began a shower of arrows on the other. But not a single arrow injured either. In the thick of the battle विष्णु struck a blow on महिष 's head and he dropped down unconscious. But ere long the दानव rose up and taking up his iron pestle aimed a mighty blow at विष्णु 's head and brought it down with deadly effect Under the blow, even विष्णु fell unconscious on गरुड 's back. विष्णु 's condition made गरुड withdraw from the scene of battle temporarily, with विष्णु on his back. इन्द्र and the other gods began to cry aloud. शिव , who saw this desperate plight of the Devas, at once came to the battlefield, carrying his trident, ready to fight against महिष . When he tried to pierce the असुर 's chest with his trident, the latter thwarted the blow with his own lance and aimed it at शिव 's breast. Although it actually hit him, शिव disregarded it and gave another thrust to महिष with his trident. By this time महाविष्णु had recovered from his swoon. At once he returned to the field of battle and joined शिव in his attack on महिष . When महिष saw that both शिव and विष्णु were launching a combined attack against him, in his wild fury he assumed his own buffalo form and lifting up his tail and shaking his head rushed towards his mighty adversaries. With his terrible horns he lifted up mountain peaks and hurled them at the enemy. But the Deva leaders stopped them with their shower of arrows. विष्णु sent his चक्र against him and it made the असुर chief drop down senseless. But he soon recovered and rushed forward to renew his attack with a terrible roar. विष्णु then sounded his divine conch " पाञ्चजन्य " and drowned the sound of his roar. Just as the roaring of the असुर frightened the Devas, the sound of पाञ्चजन्य struck terror in the minds of the असुरस् .

महिष 's Death

The असुरस् were terrified at the sound of पाञ्चजन्य . In order to encourage them, महिष assumed the form of a lion and rushed into the midst of the army of देवस् roaring. Even the त्रिमूर्तिस् were alarmed for a short while when they saw the fierce beast advancing through their battlearray killing and mauling hundreds of the देवस् on either side. महाविष्णु at once sent his weapon चक्र against the lion. The lion was reduced to ashes by it, but महिष rose up again in the form of a buffalo and rushed forward. He gave a severe cut on महाविष्णु 's chest with his long and powerful horn. महाविष्णु started fleeing to वैकुण्ठ . At the sight of this, शिव concluded that महिष was proof against killing and so he also fled to कैलास riding on his bull. When विष्णु and शिव took to their heels, ब्रह्मा also flew to सत्यलोक , riding on this swan. Although the leaders left the field, the rest of the देवस् under the leadership of इन्द्र , encountered महिष again. इन्द्र drew his वज्र . The अष्टदिक्पालकस् assisted him. The battle raged fiercely again. The देवस् began to flee for life. Taking this opportunity, महिषासुर forced his way into Heaven. He planted his दैत्य flag highly. He drove out all the remaining देवस् . In this way the असुरस् took possession of देवलोक . The देवस् took shelter on the tops of mountains.

Several centuries passed. The देवस् assembled and prayed to ब्रह्मा . He took them again to वैकुण्ठ . शिव also arrived there. The देवस् submitted their grievances to विष्णु . They prayed to him to devise some method by which महिष could be killed. ब्रह्मा had given him a boon that no Man was capable of killing him.

महाविष्णु said to them:--"By Virtue of the boon, महिष could be killed only by a woman. If we can create a woman who is part of the देवस् with their power and glory, we could kill him with her help. So let us try to create such a mighty woman, concentrating all our powers on her. After her creation, we must give her all our weapons."

As soon as महाविष्णु spoke these words, a figure with dazzling effulgence issued forth from ब्रह्मा 's face. Both विष्णु and शिव were amazed at the sight of this figure radiating beams of light which were partly cool and partly warm. Similar figures, embodying the peculiar powers and qualities of विष्णु , शिव , इन्द्र , कुबेर , वरुण and all other gods, emanated from them. In a moment all these figures merged into a single figure and transformed themselves into a single woman with celestial beauty and having eighteen arms. This woman of exquisite beauty combining all the powers and glories of all the देवस् was देवी herself. The devas supplied her with jewels and ornaments and gorgeous clothes. Decked in all glory and with fascinating beauty, riding on a lion. she took her stand at the entrance of देवलोक and challenged महिष . At the very first sight of Devī, Mahiṣa fell in love with her. She declared she would become the wife of the person who could defeat her in battle.

So महिष made up his mind to defeat her in a fight. It was a terrible battle. All the Ministers of महिष , like बाष्कल , दुर्मुख , ताम्र , चिक्षुर , असिलोमा and बिडाल were slain. At last महिष himself appeared on the scene to fight with देवी . महिष started with a shower of arrows and देवी countered them all with her own arrows. In the end she attacked him with विष्णु चक्र . The चक्र cut off his throat and he dropped down dead. The देवस् raised a thunderous shout of joy and triumph. (Devī Bhāgavata, 5th Skandha) .