Saturday Story (updated on pg 38 )

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#171

Mahishasur gathered a vast army, with its weapons of iron, and its phalanxes of elephants and charioteers marched on the king of gods, Indra defeating him.

Then, Mahishasura usurped the throne of heaven. The victory was complete, and all the gods were driven from heaven.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#172

From Durga Saptshati...

Formation of Devi

When Mahisasura was the lord of asuras and Indra the lord of devas, there was a war between the devas and asuras for a full hundred years. In that the army of the devas was vanquished by the valorous asuras. After conquering all the devas, Mahisasura became the lord of heaven( Indra).

Then the vanquished devas headed by Brahma, the lord of beings, went to the place where Siva and Vishnu were. The devas described to them in detail, as it had happened, the story of their defeat wrought by Mahisasura.
'He(Mahisasura) himself has assumed the jurisdictions of Surya, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Candra, Yama and Varuna and other (devas). Thrown out from heaven by that evil-natured Mahisa, the hosts of devas wander on the earth like mortals. All that has been done by the enemy of the devas, has been related to you both, and we have sought shelter under you both. May both of you be pleased to think out the means of his destruction.'

Having thus heard the words of the devas, Vishnu was angry and also Siva, and their faces became fierce with frowns.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#173

The issued forth a great light from the face of Vishnu who was full of intense anger, and from that of Brahma and Siva too. From the bodies of Indra and other devas also sprang forth a very great light. And (all) this light united together.

By that which was Siva's light, her face came into being; by Yama's (light) her hair, by Vishnu's light her arms; and by Candra's[moon] (light) her two breasts. By Indra's light her waist, by Varuna's (light) her shanks and thighs and by earth's light her hips.

By Brahma's light her feet came into being; by Surya's light her toes, by Vasus (light) her fingers, by Kubera's (light) her nose; by Prajapati's light her teeth came into being and similarly by Agni's light her three eyes were formed. The light of the two sandhyas became her eye-brows, the light of Vayu her ears; the manifestation of the lights of other devas too (contributed to the being of the ) auspicious Devi.

Then looking at her, who had come into being from the assembled lights of all the devas, the immortals who were oppressed by Mahisasura experienced joy.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#174

The bearer of Pinaka (Shiva) drawing forth a trident(trishul) from his own trident presented it to her; and Vishnu bringing forth a discus out of his own discus gave her. Varuna gave her a conch, Agni a spear; and Maruta gave a bow as well as two quivers full of arrows.

Indra, lord of devas, bringing forth a thunderbolt(vraj) out of (his own) thunderbolt and a bell from that of his elephant Airavata, gave her. Yama gave a staff from his own staff of Death and Varuna, the lord of waters, a noose; and Brahma, the lord of beings, gave a string of beads and a water-pot.

Surya bestowed his own rays on al the pores of her skin and Kala (Time) gave a spotless sword and a shield.

The milk-ocean(samudra) gave a pure necklace, a pair of un-decaying garments, a divine crest-jewel, a pair of ear-rings, bracelets, a brilliant half-moon(ornament), armlets on all arms, a pair of shining anklets, a unique necklace and excellent rings on all the fingers. Visvakarma gave her a very brilliant axe, weapons of various forms and also an impenetrable armour. The ocean gave her a garland of unfading lotuses for her head and another for her breast, besides a very beautiful lotus in her hand. The (mountain) Himavat gave her a lion to ride on a various jewels.

The lord of wealth (Kubera) gave her a drinking cup, ever full of wine. Sesh Naag, the lord of all serpents, who supports this earth, gave her a serpent-necklace bedecked with best jewels.

Honored likewise by other devas also with ornaments and weapons, she (the Devi) gave out a loud roar with a decrying laugh again and again. By her unending, exceedingly great, terrible roar the entire sky was filled, and there was great reverberation. All worlds shook, the seas trembled.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#175

Battle starts:-

The earth quaked and all the mountains rocked. 'Victory to you,' exclaimed the devas in joy to her, the lion-rider. the sages, who bowed their bodies in devotion, extolled her.

Seeing the three worlds agitated the foes of devas, mobilized all their armies and rose up together with uplifted weapons.

Mahisasura, exclaiming in wrath, 'Ha! What is this?' rushed towards that roar, surrounded by innumerable asuras.

Then he saw the Devi pervading the three worlds with her lustre. Making the earth bend with her footstep, scraping the sky with her diadem, shaking the nether worlds with the twang of the bowstring, and standing there pervading all the quarters around with her thousand arms.

Then began a battle between that Devi and the enemies of the devas, in which the quarters of the sky were illumined by the weapons and arms hurled diversely. Mahisasura's general, a great asura named Chiksura and Chamara, attended by forces comprising four parts, and other (asuras) fought. A great asura named Udagra with sixty thousand chariots, and Mahahanu with ten millions (of chariots) gave battle. Asiloman, another great asura, with fifteen millions (of chariots), and Baskala with six millions fought in that battle. Privarita with many thousands of elephants and horses, and surrounded by ten millions of chariots, fought in that battle. An asura named Bidala fought in that battle surrounded with five hundred crores of chariots. And other great asuras, thousands in number, surrounded with chariots, elephants and horses fought with the Devi in that battle.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#176

Mahisasura was surrounded in that battle with thousands of crores of horses, elephants and chariots. Others (asuras) fought in the battle against the Devi with iron maces and javelins, with spears and clubs, with swords, axes and halberds. Some hurled spears and others nooses.

They began to strike her with swords in order to kill her. Showering her own weapons and arms, that Devi Chandika very easily cut into pieces all those weapons and arms. Without any strain on her face, and with gods and sages extolling her, the Isvari threw her weapons and arms at the bodies of the asuras. And the lion also which carried the Devi, shaking its mane in rage, stalked among the hosts of the asuras like a conflagration amidst the forests.

The sighs which Ambika, engaged in the battle, heaved became at once her battalions by hundreds and thousands. Energized by the power of the Devi, these (battalions) fought with axes, javelins, swords, halberds, and destroyed the asuras. Of these battalions, some beat drums, some blew conches and others played on tabors in that great martial festival.

Then the Devi killed hundreds of asuras with her trident, club, showers of spears, swords and the like, and threw down others who were stupefied by the noise of her bell; and binding others with her noose, she dragged them on the ground. Some were split into two by the sharp slashes of her sword, and others, smashed by the blows of her mace, lay down on the ground; and some severely hammered by club vomited forth blood.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#177

Scene of the Battle

Pierced in the breast by her trident, some fell on the ground. Pierced all over by her arrows and resembling porcupines, some of the enemies of devas gave up their lives on that field of battle. Some had their arms cut off, some, their necks broken the heads of others rolled down; some others were torn asunder in the middle of their trunks, and some great asuras fell on the ground with their legs severed.

Some rendered one-armed, one-eyed, and one-legged were again clove in twain by the Devi. And others, though rendered headless, fell and rose again.

Headless trunks fought with the Devi with best weapons in their hands. Some of these headless trunks danced there in the battle to the rhythm of the musical instruments.

The trunks of some other great asuras, with their swords, spears and lances still in their hands, shouted at the Devi with their just severed heads, 'Stop, stop'. That part of earth where the battle was fought became impassable with the asuras, elephants and horses and chariots that had been felled.

The profuse blood from the asuras, elephants and horses flowed immediately like large rivers amidst that army of the asuras.

As fire consumes a huge heap of straw and wood, so did Ambika destroy that vast army of asuras in no time.

And her carrier-lion, thundering aloud with quivering mane, prowled about in the battlefield, appearing to search out the vital breaths from the bodies of the enemies of devas.

In that battlefield the battalions of the Devi fought in such a manner with the asuras that the devas in heaven, showering flowers, extolled them.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#178

The Slaying of Mahisasura

Then Chiksura, the great asura general, seeing that army being slain(by the Devi), advanced in anger to fight with Ambika.

That asura rained showers of arrows on the Devi in the battle, even as a cloud (showers) rain on the summit of Mount Meru.

Then the Devi, easily cutting asunder the masses of his arrows, killed his horses and their controller with her arrows.

Forthwith she split his bow and lofty banner, and with her arrows pierced the body of that(asura) whose bow had been cut.

His bow shattered, his chariot broken, his horses killed and his charioteer slain, the asura armed with sword and shield rushed at the Devi.

Swiftly he smote the lion on the head with his sharp-edged sword and struck the Devi also on her left arm.

Then, his sword broke into pieces as it touched her arm. Thereon his eyes turning red with anger, he grasped his pike.

Then the great asura flung at Bhandrakali the pike, blazing with lustre, as if he was hurling the very sun from the skies.

Seeing that pike coming upon her, the Devi hurled her pike that shattered his pike into a hundred fragments and the great asura himself.

Mahisasura's very valiant general having been killed, Chamara, the afflictor of devas, mounted on an elephant, advanced.

He also hurled his spear at the Devi. Ambika quickly assailed it with a whoop, made it lustreless and fall to the ground.

Seeing his spear broken and fallen, Chamara, full of rage, flung a pike, and she split that also with her arrows.

Then the lion, leaping up and seating itself at the centre of the elephant's forehead, engaged itself in a hand to hand fight with that foe of the devas.

Fighting, the two then came down to the earth from the back of the elephant, and fought very impetuously, dealing the most terrible blows at each other.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#179

Then the lion, springing up quickly to the sky, and descending, severed Chamara's head with a blow from its paw.

And Udagra was killed in the battle by the Devi with stones, trees and the like, and Karala also stricken down by her teeth and fists and slaps.

Enraged, the Devi ground Uddhata to powder with the blows of her club, and killed Baskala with a dart and destroyed Tamra and Andhaka with arrows.

The three-eyed Supreme Isvari killed Ugrasya and Ugravirya and Mahahanu also with her trident.

With her sword she struck down Bidala's head from his body, and dispatched both Durdhara and Durmudha to the abode of Death with her arrows.

As his army was thus being destroyed, Mahisasura terrified the troops of the Devi with his own buffalo form.

Some ( he laid low) by a blow of his muzzle, some by stamping with his hooves, some by the lashes of his tail, and others by the pokes of his horns.

Some he laid low on the face of the earth by his impetuous speed, some by his bellowing and wheeling movement, and others by the blast of his breath.

Having laid low her army, Mahisasura rushed to slay the lion of the Mahadevi. This enraged Ambika.

Mahisasura, great in valour, pounded the surface of the earth with his hooves in rage, tossed up the high mountains with his horns, and bellowed terribly.

Crushed by the velocity of his wheeling, the earth disintegrated, and lashed by his tail, the sea overflowed all around.

Pierced by his swaying horns, the clouds went into fragments. Cast up by the blast of his breath, mountains fell down from the sky in hundreds.

Seeing the great asura swollen with rage and advancing towards her, Chandika displayed her wrath in order to slay him.

She flung her noose over him and bound the great asura. Thus bound in the great battle, he quitted his buffalo form.

Then he became a lion suddenly. While Ambika cut off the head (of his lion form), he took the appearance of a man with sword in hand.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Sweet24

@Sweet24

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#180

Immediately then the Devi with her arrows chopped off the man together with his sword and shield. Then he became a big elephant.

(The elephant) tugged at her great lion with his trunk and roared loudly, but as he was dragging, the Devi cut off his trunk with her sword.

The great asura then resumed his buffalo shape and shook the three worlds with their movable and immovable objects.

Enraged threat, Chandika, the Mother of the worlds, quaffed a divine drink again and again, and laughed, her eyes becoming red.

And the asura, also roared intoxicated with his strength and valour, and hurled mountains against Chandika with his horns.

And she with showers of arrows pulverized ( those mountains) hurled at her, and spoke to him in flurried words, the colour of her face accentuated with the intoxication of the divine drink.

The Devi said:

'Roar, roar, O fool, for a moment while I drink this Honey. When you sill be slain by me, the devas will soon roar in this very place.'

Having exclaimed thus, she jumped and landed herself on that great asura, pressed him on the neck with her foot and struck him with her spear.

And thereupon, caught up under her foot. Mahisasura half issued forth ( in his real form) from his own (buffalo) mouth, being completely overcome by the valour of the Devi.

Fighting thus with his half-revealed form, the great asura was laid by the Devi who struck off his head with her great sword.

Then, crying in consternation, the whole asura army perished; and all the hosts of deva were in exultation. With the great sages of heaven, the devas praised the Devi. The Gandharva chiefs sang and the bevies of apsaras danced.

Edited by Sweet24 - 12 years ago

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Saturday Story (updated on pg 38 ) - Page 18

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