General

Rebirth of रम्भासुर , father of महिषासुर . Stories of रक्तबीज and रम्भासुर are inextricably intertwined.

Origin of रक्तबीज

Once upon a time there lived an असुर king called दनु . His two sons, रम्भ and करम्भ who had no children, did तपस् at पञ्चनद for the blessing of having issues. रम्भ and करम्भ meditated upon मालवट यक्ष , the former seated at the centre of the five fires and the latter standing in the water. इन्द्र in the guise of a crocodile dragged करम्भ away by the feet and killed him. Angry at the death of his brother, रम्भ decided to cut off his head and offer it in fire. When he was about to do so, अग्नि appeared and told him that suicide was worse than killing others, and promised to grant him whatever he desired. Accordingly रम्भ requested अग्नि for a son more effulgent than the latter, who would conquer the three worlds and would not be defeated even by the देवस् and the असुरस् . रम्भ further wanted that son to be as powerful as वायु , exceptionally handsome and skilled in archery.

अग्नि blessed रम्भ that he would have, as desired, a son by the woman whom he coveted. On his way back home he saw a beautiful she-buffalo, which he married. He took the buffalo which got pregnant by him, to पाताल to protect it from the attack by other buffaloes. One day another buffalo felt a passion for रम्भ 's wife and in the fight that ensued रम्भ was killed by it. रम्भ 's wife died in his funeral pyre. It was from the centre of the fire that the very powerful महिषासुर was born. रम्भासुर also rose from the fire under the name रक्तबीज . (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 17 • Devī Bhāgavata, 5th Skandha)

Boon to रक्तबीज

रक्तबीज secured from शिव a boon according to which if one drop of blood from his body fell on the battlefield, many रक्तबीजस् would arise from the blood and fight the enemies. Each of these रक्तबीजस् would also be like the others in the matter of strength, form and weapons. (Devī Bhāgavata, 5th Skandha) .

His death

War between देवस् and असुरस् broke out and in the fight between देवी and रक्तबीज blood from his body flowed. When देवी found it impossible to kill the lakhs of रक्तासुरस् who arose from the blood, she resorted to a trick. She asked चामुण्डी to lick off the blood flowing from रक्तबीज before it fell on the ground. Accordingly देवी began killing the asuras and चामुण्डी consuming their blood and flesh. When the artificial रक्तबीजस् were all killed thus, the original रक्तबीज alone remained and in the fight between them, देवी cut off his head with her sword. चामुण्डी did not permit even a drop of blood to fall on the ground. (Devī Bhāgavata, 5th Skandha) .