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Heaven stood empty under the terror of Mahishasura. Whatever portion of the sacrifice was set aside for the gods, the demon swallowed for himself, and the gods, driven out of their own realm, wandered in fear through the caves of the mountains. Brahma gathered them up and went first to take refuge with Shankara. Shankara smiled and said that it was their own hands that had given the demon his boon, and now what woman of power could ever kill him. His own consort Rudrani was not fit to march into war, nor Brahma’s Brahmani, nor was Indra’s Indrani skilled in the arts of battle. So he counseled that they all go together to Vishnu, who would find some way to see the task accomplished.
The gods mounted their several vehicles and set out with Shiva toward Vaikuntha. Along the road cool, gentle, fragrant winds began to blow, sacred birds called out in auspicious notes, and the sky turned clear and bright. In Vaikuntha the vast palace of Hari stood ringed by lakes and rivers, where swans, cranes, and chakravaka birds cried to one another; in the gardens champa, ashoka, kahlar, mandara, and maulsiri were in bloom, cuckoos sang, and peacocks danced. At the gate stood Jaya and Vijaya, each holding a golden staff. Vijaya went inside and told Vishnu that all the gods had arrived, and the lord of Lakshmi, eager to meet them, came out at once.
Only one recourse remains
The gods folded their hands and said, O ocean of mercy, we are tormented by Mahishasura, that sinner, unconquerable and swollen with his boon; protect those who have come to you for shelter. Vishnu heard this and answered with a smile that they had fought the demon before and had not been able to kill him. The creator had granted him a boon that no man’s hand would bring his death. So which goddess among Rudrani, Brahmani, Indrani, or Sarasvati could possibly kill that maddened creature? Only one recourse remained. If a woman of surpassing beauty were brought forth from the combined radiance of all the gods, she alone could slay him on the field of battle by her own valor. That valiant woman, skilled in weaving a hundred forms of maya (illusion), would put an end to the proud demon. Vishnu said that now every god should pray, each offering a portion of his own radiance, so that a single mass of light might appear, and from it the Goddess be born.
The Goddess emerges from the mass of radiance
The moment Vishnu had finished speaking, an unbearable column of radiance broke of its own accord from Brahma’s mouth, red in color and shining like a ruby. Then from Shankara’s body came a radiance the color of silver, fierce beyond measure, vast as a mountain, dark as tamas itself. From Vishnu’s body appeared a blue radiance rich with sattva and full of light, and from Indra’s body rose a radiance of strange shape, perfectly round. From the bodies of Kubera, Yama, Agni, and Varuna a great radiance burst on every side, and from the limbs of the other gods shining rays poured out as well. All that radiance merged together and became a mass of light as vast as the Himalaya. In that instant, before the eyes of all, from that column emerged Mahalakshmi herself, exquisitely beautiful, made of the three gunas, bearing eighteen arms, of three colors, enchanting to the whole world. Her face was luminous, her eyes dark, her lips deeply red, and her palms the color of copper.
It is worth hearing, too, which god’s radiance formed which part of the Goddess. From Shankara’s radiance came her fair complexion and the broad lotus of her face; from Yama’s radiance came her curling hair, dark as a rain cloud and lovely to behold. From Agni’s radiance came her three eyes, graced with three colors, black, red, and white. From the radiance of the two twilights came her eyebrows, curved and smooth as the bow of Kamadeva; from the wind’s radiance came her ears, neither too large nor too small. From Kubera’s radiance came her nose, delicate as a sesame flower, and from Prajapati’s radiance came her teeth, even and pointed like buds of jasmine. Her lower red lip came from the radiance of Aruna, and her upper lip from the radiance of Kartikeya. Her eighteen arms came from Vishnu’s radiance, and her red-hued fingers from the radiance of the Vasus. From the moon’s radiance came her breasts, from Indra’s radiance her waist marked with three folds, from Varuna’s radiance her thighs, and from the earth’s radiance her broad hips. In this way the Goddess appeared in the form of a woman, beautiful in shape, endowed with a divine form, and sweet of voice. Seeing her, all the gods who had suffered under Mahishasura were filled with joy.
The Goddess arrayed in weapons and ornaments
Then Vishnu said that now every god should offer the Goddess his own auspicious ornaments and weapons. The Ocean of Milk gave two divine crimson garments that would never wear thin, a spotless necklace, a crest-jewel bright as ten million suns, earrings, and bangles. Vishvakarma gave armlets and gem-studded bracelets; Tvashta offered anklets that shone like the sun, the Kaumodaki mace that rang like a hundred bells, and many missiles along with impenetrable armor. The great sea gave a necklace and rings of light, and Varuna presented a garland of lotuses that would never wilt, a Vaijayanti garland, a noose, and a conch. Himavan gave many jewels and a lovely lion for her mount, its coat bright as gold. From his own discus Vishnu produced a discus of a thousand spokes, able to sever the heads of demons; Shankara from his own trident produced a splendid trident, Agni gave a shakti (spear) that destroys enemies, and Marut gave a quiver full of arrows and a bow that twanged with a harsh cry. Indra from his own thunderbolt produced a terrible thunderbolt, and lifted from Airavata a bell of sweet, piercing sound; Yama gave a staff from his own rod of death, Brahma gave a water pot filled with the water of the Ganga, Kala gave a sword and a shield, and Kubera gave a golden drinking cup filled with wine. The sun god offered her his own rays. Arrayed thus in every weapon and ornament, mounted upon the lion, the Goddess shone in splendor, and again and again she drank the wine from her cup.
Praising that gracious Goddess who enchants the three worlds, the gods spoke: salutation to Shiva; salutation to Kalyani, to Shanti, and to Pushti; unending salutation to Bhagavati, to Devi, and to Rudrani. Salutation to Kalaratri, to Amba, and to Indrani; salutation to Siddhi, Buddhi, Vriddhi, and Vaishnavi. She who dwells within the earth and governs it, though the earth cannot know her; she who dwells within maya and drives it forward, though maya cannot recognize her; that birthless supreme Goddess we adore. O Mother, with your radiance strike down this deluded, sinful Mahishasura; you alone are the refuge of all the gods, so protect us.
The Goddess’s thunderous laughter
Hearing the praise of all the gods, the great Goddess smiled and said that they should let go of their fear of the dull-witted Mahishasura; the demon, swollen with pride from his boon, she would kill in battle this very day. Then she said how strange this world was, where even Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Indra, fallen into confusion and delusion, trembled before a buffalo; time alone is the maker of joy and sorrow, the lord of all. With these words the Goddess gave so mighty a laugh that its roar made the earth shake, all the mountains tremble, the fathomless ocean churn, and even Sumeru sway; every direction rang with the sound. Hearing that fierce sound, the gods rejoiced and raised a cry of triumph, while the demons were seized with fear. Mahishasura, sunk in his pride, burned with rage when he heard that roar, and, uneasy now, he ordered his messengers to find the source of this ear-piercing sound and drag the wretch before him. When the messengers drew near the Goddess, she of the eighteen arms, seated upon the lion, drinking again and again from her wine cup and roaring, they were dazzled by her radiance and, without a word, returned in fear to tell their master that the woman there was neither human nor demonic, that she was a being of divine form, brimming with the rasas of romance, valor, laughter, fury, and wonder, so radiant that even to look upon her was hard.
This same story is told in the Devi Mahatmya as well, though the Devi Bhagavata gives it a manner all its own and at far greater length.
Source: Shrimad Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana (Gita Press, Gorakhpur)