Chandipaath Series (Chapter-2 & Chapter-3) --- Emergence of Maa Durga and Mahisasura Vadh (killing)

Maharishi Medha continued his narration of the manifestation of Shri Durga. 

Once the war between the deities and the demons continued for one hundred years. Mahisasur was the chief of the demons and Indra was the chief of the deities. The deities were defeated by the demons. After their defeat, Mahisasur captured heaven and declared himself the king of heaven. The deities along with Lord Bramha went to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. They told the Lord that "Oh Lord, the dangerous Mahishasur had captured our heaven from us. He has seized the power and rights of Sun(सूर्यदेव), Moon(चन्द्र देव)Varun(जलदेवी),Wind(वायुदेव), Fire(अग्निदेव) and other deities along with Indra and controlling the same himself. He has thrown us away from heaven. We are roaming around the earth in disguise. Now you are our last refuge. Please find a way out for us to kill the demon."

Hearing the misery of the deities Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva got enraged. The rage of Lord Vishnu produced a lightning blaze that glittered the sky. A similar blaze was produced by Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma and other deities. All of their energies united which lit the whole world. The energy took a feminine form. Powers from different Lords and the deities formed different parts of Devi. The face was formed by the power of Shiva, hair from the power of Yamraj, arms from the power of Vishnu, breasts from the power of Chandra, the middle body from the power of Indra, thighs from the power of Varun, hips from the power of mother Earth, feet from the power of Brahma, toes from the power of Sun, fingers from the power of Vasu, nose from the power of Kuber, teeth from the power of Prajapati, three eyes from the power of Agni (fire god), eyebrows from the power of Sandhya, ears from the power of the wind (Vayu dev). Likewise, the remaining parts were formed from the power of other deities. Thus the Maa Durga emerged as a whole.

Then all the Lords gave their respective weapons to Maa Durga. Lord Shiva produced a trident, Lord Vishnu formed a Chakra (disc) from his Sudarshan chakra and gave it to the Devi. Varun dev gave a Conch and a trap(पाश). Agni dev gave his energy. Vayu dev gave a bow and two quivers full of arrows, Indra dev gave a ‘vajra’ and a bell from the neck of Airavat. Yamraaj gave a miraculous stick from his kaal-dand. Prajapati gave a powerful garland of crystals. Lord Brahma gave the ewer (कमंडलु), Surya dev gave his power of ray, Kaal gave the sword and shield. The Ocean of milk (क्षिरसमुद्र) gave two imperishable clothes and other jewellery, Vishwakarma gave a battle axe and other powerful weapons, armours and imperishable garlands of lotuses. Ocean of water gave lotuses. Himalaya gave the powerful lion as the mount (वाहन) and many diamonds. Kuber gave a pot of honey. Shesh Nag, the king of serpent gave a snake garland adorned with miraculous diamonds. Likewise, other deities also gave various powerful weapons.

After receiving all the gifts and weapons the goddess uttered a loud and dangerous sound (अट्टहास). The sound of her furious laugh echoed around the world. Because of the force of the laugh the whole world started trembling. The deities acclaimed her loudly in the name of Bhawani, the Singhavahini (सिंहवाहिनी). The echo of her laugh baffled the demons. Mahisasur ordered his army to march towards the sound. When they reached the spot, Mahisasura was astounded by the power, beauty and glaze of the goddess. A thousand arms of the Devi were spread all over the sky. 

The demons attacked goddess Bhawani. The commander (सेनापति) Chikshyur started fighting with the goddess. Chamar also attacked with his special soldiers. The demon Udagra fought with sixty thousand elephants. ‘Mahahanu’ rakshas fought with his one crore soldiers. ‘Asilomar’ rakshas whose hair and the body was as strong as swords came with his five crore soldiers to fight against Maa Bhawani. ‘Basphal’ rakshas came with his sixty lakh furious soldiers to fight. ‘Parivarit’ rakshas came with crores of soldiers riding on elephants and horses came to fight. Vidal rakshas came with fifty crore soldiers to fight. Mahisasur surrounded by many crores of soldiers was standing there on the battlefield field. The demons were attacking the goddess with weapons like ‘Tomar’, ‘Bhindipal’, ‘Shakti’, ‘Mushal’, ‘Khadga’, ‘Parshu’, ‘Pattish’ etc. But goddess Durga was playfully making their weapons useless by the weapons in her thousand hands. 

Her mount lion was also attacking the demons. Lakhs of Ganas (soldiers of the goddess) were produced when the goddess exhaled. They were killing the demons with many dangerous weapons. The ‘Ganas’ were beating nakers(नगाड़ा) furiously and blowing conches continuously. Crores of demons got killed by the goddess. Many demons died just from the sound of the bell(घन्टा)  of the goddess. She killed many demons by the trap. Many demons were cut into two pieces by her swords. Lakhs of demons lost their lives by her huge mace(गदा). She killed countless demons by piercing her prongs(शूल) in the chest. Crores of demons died by her incessant attack by her bow and arrows. Some demons lost their eyes, some lost their limbs. Some demons didn't stop fighting even after their heads were severed by goddess Durga but ultimately lost their lives. Countless elephants and horses of the demons lost their lives in the battle. The battlefield looked red because of the blood of the demons. Billions of dead bodies, broken chariots and weapons lay on the ground. Rivers of blood formed on the battlefield. Maa Durga and her ganas destroyed the armies of Mahisasur within a short time. 

The Story is continued in Chapter-4.

Source: Durga Saptasathi

Also Read:

Chandipaath Series (Chapter-1) - Madhu Kaitabh Vadh

Chandipaath Series (Chapter-4) -  Durga Stuti 

Chandipaath Series (Chapter-5) - Shumbh Nishumbh 

Chandipaath Series (Chapter-6) - Dhumralochan Vadh

Chandipaath Series (Chapter-7) - Chand Mund Vadh

Chandipaath Series (Chapter-8) - Raktabeej Vadh

Chandipaath Series (Chapter 9 and Chapter10) --- Nisumbh Shumbh Vadh