El Devi Bhagavatam

flowers; why then are You holding in Your hands all the weapons and arrows? What is the use of holding ordinary arrows, when those two eye-brows like bows, are existing with You? What need have you to take ordinary arrows when you are graced with those piercing eye sights, your arrows. The war is exceedingly painful in this world; those who know thus ought never to fight. It is only those human beings that are prompted by greed that fight with each other. What to speak of those sharpened arrows, one ought not to fight with flowers even; O Devî! You can well say who is it that feels pleasure, when one’s own body is pierced? Therefore, O Delicate One! Gladly you can worship Mahisa, the lord of the world and the object of worship of the Devas and Dânavas. Then he will satisfy all your desires. What more to say, you will no doubt be his queen-consort. O Devî! If one tries one’s best, it is doubtful whether one would be crowned with success; therefore keep my this request; you will surely get all the best pleasures. O Beautiful! You are well acquainted with all the politics; therefore you better enjoy thoroughly the pleasures of the kingdom for full many years. And if you marry Mahisa you will have beautiful sons and those sons again will be kings; and enjoying the pleasures of your full grown womanhood, you will no doubt, be happy in your old age.”

Here ends the Eleventh Chapter of the Fifth Book on the appearing of the Dânava Tâmra before the Devî in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fifth Book: Chapter 12

THE FIFTH BOOK

Chapter XII

On the holding of counsel by Mahisâsura

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1. Vyâsa said :-- The World-Mother, hearing Tâmra’s words, spoke laughing a little and with a deep voice like that of a rumbling thunder cloud.

2-13. The Devî spoke :-- “O Tâmra! Go and say to your Lord Mahisa who, it seems, is stupid, whose end is nigh, who has become very passionate, and who is void of knowledge what is proper and what is improper. I am not like your grown up mother, the she-buffalo, having horns, eating grass, with a long tail and a big-belly. I do not like to have Visnu, the god S’ankara, Brahmâ, Kuvera, Varuna, or Fire. How then can I select a beast? If I do so, I will be an object of much censure amongst the several worlds. I am not desirous of any more husband; my Husband is existing; though He is the Lord of all, Witness of All, yet He is not the Actor; He is without any desires and He is calm

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and tranquil. He, the S’iva, is devoid of any Prakritic qualities, without any attachment, the Great Infinite, without anyone to rely on, without any refuge, omniscient, omnipresent, the Great Witness, the Full, and the seat of the Full, the Auspicious. He is the abode of all, capable to do all, the peaceful, capable to create everything and He is seeing everywhere. How can I then leave Him and try to serve the dull, stupid Mahisa? Let him come and fight with this understanding that he will be defeated and be made the conveyance of Yama, the God of Death or the carrier of water of the human beings. And if that impious heretic desire to live, let him fly at once to Pâtâla with all his demon comrades; else I will slay him in battle. See! The combination of similar substances leads to happiness; and if out of ignorance, the connection takes place between things entirely different in their natures, it becomes at once the source of all pains and troubles. You are a thorough illiterate when you ask me to worship your lord; do you not see me endowed with exquisite beauty? and what is your Mahisa? A buffalo with horns; how can then creation become possible between us? Better fly away or fight if you like; I will kill you and your friends, and if you leave the region of Heavens and the share of Yajñâ, then you will become happy.”

14-30. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Thus saying, the Devî howled and roared so loudly that it appeared strange and it caused a great terror to the Dânavas who took it as the great dissolution of the universe at the end of a Kalpa. The earth and the mountains trembled; the wives of the Dânavas, had miscarriages at that terrific noise. Tâmra hearing that sound was terrified; his mind became unsteady and he at once fled to Mahisa. O King! The Dânavas present in the city became deaf; thy fled and became very anxious and were absorbed in the thought whence and how that sound came. The lion, too, enraged and, raising up its manes, roared so loud that the Daityas became very much terrified. Mahisa, too, became confounded to see Tâmra returning; he then held a council with his ministers what ought to be done next? Mahisâsura said :-- “O best of the Dânavas! Shall we now take our shelter within the forts? Or shall we go out and fight? Or will it be favourable to us if we fly away? You all are intelligent and versed in all the S’âstras and unconquerable by your foes; therefore ought you all to consult over the the matter in utmost privacy for our success at the present moment. The root of Kingdom lies in the council in the secret place (cabinet) and Statesmanship; if this counsel be kept well preserved in secrecy, then that Kingdom is also kept entire; therefore it is highly incumbent that the plan be kept in strictest confidence amongst the good and virtuous ministers. If the plan be out, then destruction comes both to the King and his Kingdom; hence the plan must be kept secret

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by those wanting glory, lest it be taken advantage of and rendered ineffective by other persons. O Ministers! Now declare, taking due consideration of time and place, after duly discussing and ascertaining what is the best course to adopt, what would be beneficial and full of reason and intelligence. First find out the cause why this powerful woman, created by the Devas has come here alone and helpless? That woman is challenging us to fight. What more wonder can there be than this? Who can say in the three worlds what the result will be, whether it will be good or otherwise? Victory comes not to many persons nor defeat comes to a single individual; therefore victory or defeat lies at the hands of the Luck and Destiny. Those who plead for place, policy, statesmanship, they say what is Fate? Is there anyone who has seen Fate? (Adrista) No one has seen His appearance. It may be argued that there may exist such a thing as Fate; to which it might be replied, what proofs are there for such an existence? Thus the weak persons alone hold it out as their only hope; nowhere are seen energetic persons who can fulfil their ends by their own efforts, by those who enrol themselves under Fate. Therefore “effort,” “energy” are the words of the heroes and “Fate” is the word of the cowards. You should all consider today these subjects fully and intelligently and then decide what are we to do?”

31-39. Vyâsa said :-- Thus hearing the King, the famous Vidâlâksa with folded hands spoke thus :-- O King! First it should be definitely ascertained whose wife is she, this woman possessing large eyes? Whence and for what purpose has she come here; next what ought to be done should be decided. It seems to me that the Devas, knowing that your death will ensue from the hands of a woman, have created very carefully this lotus-eyed woman out of their own essences. And they are lying in wait, unknown to anybody in the celestial space with a desire to see the battle but really to fight with you. In due time, they will undoubtedly help this woman. When the war will ensue, Visnu and the other Devas will put this woman in front and slay us all. Whereas this Devî will slay you. This is their earnest desire. O King! I have come to know this beforehand; but what will be the actual result I cannot say. I cannot say also whether it is advisable for You to fight now; therefore it would be better if you consider yourself well on this matter of the gods and do accordingly. Our duty, the duty of your servants lies in this :-- That we should sacrifice at any moment our lives for the preservation of your prestige and to enjoy with you whenever you are enjoying. But, O King! It is extremely advisable to ponder over this very carefully when we see that this woman, though alone, is challenging us to fight who are armed with powerful soldiers.

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40-44. Durmukha said :-- O King! I know for certain, that we will not get victory in this battle; still we ought not to show our backs; for that would lead us to sheer disgrace. Even in our encounter with Indra and other Devas, we did nothing hateful and blameable; then how can any of us fly away when we come face to face with a helpless woman? Therefore fight we must; that is certain; let whatever happen. What is inevitable, must come to pass. Thus considered, what need we care for the result? If we die in the battle, we will get name and fame; if we be victorious, we will get happiness. Thus thinking both the cases, we must fight today. Death is inevitable when our longevity expires; our prestige will suffer if we fly away; therefore we ought not to spend uselessly our time in thus expressing our vain regret for life or for death.

45-51. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Hearing thus the Durmukha’s words, Vâskala, the eloquent speaker, thus spoke to the king, with clasped hands and his head bowed down. O King! You need not think thus in agony with this unpleasant affair; alone I will kill that Chandikâ, of unsteady eyes. O Best of kings! To be always prompt and energetic indicates that one is steady in one’s heroic valour; to consider one’s enemy as dreadful is contrary to above; so we ought now to take recourse to heroic valour. O King! Therefore I will discard fear altogether and fight out valiantly; I will no doubt, send Chandikâ in the battlefield to the abode of Death. I fear not Yama, nor Indra, nor Kuvera, nor Vayu nor Agni, nor Visnu, nor S’ankara, nor Moon nor Sun; I do not fear any of them; what fear can I, then, entertain of that vain arrogant woman, who has got none to support her. I will kill Her with these arrows, sharpened on stones. You can see today the prowess of my arms and enjoy peace; you will not have to go to battle anymore to fight with Her.

52-65. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Vâskala having said thus to the lord Mahisa in a haughty spirit, Durdhara bowed down and said thus :-- O Lord of the earth! Let the purpose be whatsoever, with which the beautiful Devî with eighteen hands, the creation of the gods, may come hither, I will vanquish Her. O King! I think, it is simply to terrify you, as the Suras have thus created this Mâyâ woman; therefore, do you forsake your delusion by knowing this merely as a scare. O King! Such is the statesmanship; now hear about the workings of the ministers. Ministers in this world are of three kinds :-- (1) Sâttvik; (2) Râjasik and (3) Tâmasik. Those ministers in whom the Sattva quality is predominant, they perform their Master’s duties according to their own strength. The Sâttvik Mantris (ministers) are well versed in their Mantra S’âstras (the policies and statesmanship), virtuous and one-pointed in their thoughts, they never do any injury to their king and they fulfil

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their own purposes. The Râjasik Mantris are of different sorts; they are always after their own interests; at times, whenever they like, they do the State duties. The Tâmasik Mantris always look of their own interests out of their greedy nature; they serve their ends even by ruining the regal interests. It is the Tâmasik Mantris that are influenced by the bribes from the enemies, become separated at their hearts from their own masters and give out the secrets to the enemies, while staying in their homes. They always advise alienation policy like the sword ensheathed in a scabbard; and when the time of war comes, they always frighten their masters. Therefore, O King! Never put your trust on ministers; if you do so, they will always hinder you in your actions and counsels; what harm cannot be done by those ministers that are treacherous, greedy, deceitful and void of any intelligence and always addicted to vicious acts, when they are trusted! Therefore, O King! I will go myself to the battle and serve your purpose; you need not be at all anxious in this matter. I will soon bring before you that vicious woman; I will do your actions by my own strength and powers. Let you be calm; and look at my strength, fortitude and valour.

Here ends the Twelfth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the holding of counsel by Mahisâsura in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 Slokas by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fifth Book: Chapter 13

THE FIFTH BOOK

Chapter XIII

On the killing of Vâskala and Durmukha

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1-6. Vyâsa said :-- O King! The two powerful Dânavas Vâskala and Durmukha, well-versed in arts of warfare, went out for battle, maddened with their prowess. The two Dânavas, elated with vanity, went to the battle-field and began to address the Devî in voice deep as the rumbling of a cloud. O Beautiful Devî! You better choose and worship the Lord of the Daityas, that high-souled Mahisâsura who has conquered all the Devas. He will come before you in privacy in a human shape, with all auspicious signs and adorned with beautiful ornaments. O Sweet smiling One! better place your highest feelings of love on the lovely Mahisa as your husband, and you will get all the pleasures of the three worlds as you desire. O Sweet speaking! In short, if you select him as your husband, you will be the mistress of those incomparable worldly happinesses that women always aspire.

7-13. Hearing thus the words of Vâskala and Durmukha, the Devî said :-- “O Stupid! Do you think Me as deluded by passion? Do I not possess strength and intelligence that I will worship that hypocrite Mahisa

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as husband? See! The ladies of a high family select those persons that are equal in rank as far as family and distinctions, qualifications and propriety of conduct are concerned or those who are superior in beauty, cleverness, intelligence and other qualifications. Then how can a Devî, becoming passionate, worship the worst of all beasts, the beast Mahisa? O two Asuras! Go you immediately to your King Mahisa resembling in his body like an elephant and having a pair of horns and tell him, Go either to Pâtâla (the nether regions) or come and fight with Me; the Lord of the Devas will no doubt be happy if the war ensues.  O Stupid! My advent here cannot go in vain; I will easily slay you and then depart; knowing this do as you like. O Beast! Without conquering Me, you would get no shelter either in the heavens, or in this earth, or in the caves of mountains?”

14-25. Vyâsa said :-- Hearing thus, the two powerful Daityas, with eyes reddened with anger, firmly resolved to fight and took bows and arrows in their hands. O Descent of Kuru! The Devî then made a terrible noise and fearlessly stood there. The two Dânavas then began to shoot dreadful arrows at Her. For the victory of the Devas, the Devî also begin to hurl arrows after arrows on the two Dânavas, emitting a sweet sound. Vâskala first came forward with no delay; and Durmukha stood aloof there simply as a witness. The terrible fight then ensued between the Devî and Vâskala; arrows, swords and weapons were seen shining in the air and raised terror to those that were dull in intellect. Then the Mother of the Universe seeing Vâskala growing turbulent shot at him five arrows sharpened on stone. The Dânava, too, cut off the arrows of the Devî and hurled seven arrows at Her, seated on a lion. The Devî cut off the Dânava’s arrows and shot at that hypocrite, sharpened arrows and began to laugh frequently. She again cut off his arrows with Ardhachandra arrow; Vâskala then pursued the Devî with a club in his hands to slay Her. Seeing the arrogant Dânava with club in his hands, Chandikâ Devî struck him down on the ground with Her own club. The very powerful Vâskala fell down on the ground but rose up within a very short time and hurled again on the Devî his club. Seeing him again attacking Her, the Devî got angry and pierced him with Her trident; Vâskala fell down, thus pierced, and died.

26-38. Vâskala falling thus dead on the field, the soldiers of the wicked demon routed; whereas the Devas became glad and repeatedly shouted aloud, “Victory to the Devî.” On this Daitya being slain, Durmukha came forward on the battle-field, filled with anger and accompanied by a stronger army. Mounted on a chariot, shielded all over his

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body with a coat of armour, Durmukha came before the Devî, shouting all along, “Wait, wait, O You weak woman!” and with bows and arrows in his hands. The Devî blew Her conchshell and made sounds by stretching Her bow in order to make the Dânava infuriated with anger. The Asura then began to shoot sharp arrows after arrows like poisonous snakes. The Mahâmâyâ, by Her own arrows, cut off those of Her enemy and began to shout loudly. The fight then raged furiously, when both parties began to use arrows, S’aktis, clubs, Musalas, and Tomaras. Blood began to flow in the battle-field in torrents like rivers and on the banks of that river of blood, were seen the severed heads of the dead bodies which looked like so many hollow shells of  gourds, as if kept there by the attendant of the god of Death, for their swimming purposes. The battle-field, then, became very dreadful and impassable; at some places dead bodies are lying; wolves are feeding on their flesh; at other places are seen jackals, dogs, herons, crows, vultures, eagles, and other voracious birds and beasts and iron-tipped arrows, eating the dead bodies of those wicked demons. Air began to emit an offensive smell, because of its contact with these corpses; and there were heard the heart-rending sounds of various carnivorous birds and animals. Then the wicked Durmukha began, as if inspired by the god of Death, to address the Devî angrily and arrogantly with his right hand raised up before Her. “Your brain has become perverted; fly away just now or I will send you unto death, or you better accept the proud Mahisa, the lord of the Daityas, as your husband.”

39-50. The Devî said :-- “O Villain! I see your death at hand this very day; therefore you are deluded and therefore raving like a mad man. I will kill you today like Vâskala. O Stupid! Better fly away; or if you prefer death, then wait; I will slay you first; then the dull Mahisa, the son of a she-buffalo.” Hearing thus, Durmukha, as if prompted by Death, hurled dreadful arrows on the Devî. Instantly the Devî, too, cut off all his arrows and, infuriated with anger, pierced the Dânava by sharpened arrows as Indra had pierced Vritrâsura before. The fight then turned out very dreadful. O King! Weak persons become very afraid and strong ones become very excited. Instantly the Devî cut off the Asura’s bow and broke his chariot by five arrows. On seeing his chariot broken, the powerful Durmukha attacked on foot the Devî with his club, very hard to overcome. He knocked at the head of the lion with that club with great force; but the powerful lion did not become unsteady, though so very hard hit. Seeing the demon thus standing before Her, the goddess Ambikâ cut down his head by her sharpened axe. On his head being thus severed, Durmukha fell down dead on the field. The band of Immortals, then, loudly shouted, “Victory to the Devî.” When Durmukha was slain, the

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Immortals from the celestial space began to chant praises and hymns to the Devî, showered down flowers on Her head and gave shouts of “Victory to the Devî.” The Risis, Siddhas, Gandarbhas, Vidyâdharas, and Kinnaras all became very glad to see the Demon dead on the field.

Here ends the Thirteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the killing of Vâskala and Durmukha in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâpurânam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fifth Book: Chapter 14

THE FIFTH BOOK

Chapter XIV

On the killing of Tâmra and Chiksura

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1-4. Vyâsâ said :-- Hearing the death news of Durmukha, Mahisâsura became blind with anger and began to utter repeatedly to the Dânavas, “O! What is this? What is this? Alas! That delicate woman has slain in battle the two heroes Durmukha and Vâskala! Lo! Now look at the wonderful workings of the Daiva (Fate). It is the acts virtuous, or otherwise that make men dependent; and the powerful Time awards pleasure or pain accordingly. The two powerful Demons are killed; what are we to do hereafter? You all judge and say what is reasonable at this critical juncture.”

5-23. Vyâsa said :-- When the powerful Mahisa said thus, his general Chiksura, the great warrior spoke as follows :-- “O King! Why are you so anxious as to take away the life of a delicate woman? I will kill Her;” thus saying he departed for battle, mounted on his chariot and accompanied by his own army. The powerful Tâmra accompanied him as his attendant; the sky and all the quarters became filled with the clamour of their vast army. The auspicious Devî Bhagavatî saw them before Her and She made an extraordinary wonderful sound with Her conchshell, with Her bow string and with Her great bell. The Asuras heard that and trembled and fled, speaking amongst each other, “What is this?” The Chiksurâksa seeing them turning their backs, told them very angrily, “O Dânavas! What fear has now overcome you? I will slay today this vain woman in the battle with arrows; so you should quit your fear and remain steady in battle.” Thus saying, the Dânava Chieftain Chiksura came fearlessly before the Devî with bows and arrows in his hands and, accompanied by his army, angrily spoke thus :-- “O Thou of large and broad eyes! Why are you roaring to terrify the weak persons! O the Soft limbed One! I have heard all about your deeds but I am not a bit afraid of You. O One of beautiful eyes! It is a matter of disgrace, rather sin, to kill a woman; knowing this my heart wants to pass over this act (does not like to do it, if my purpose be served without it).

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O Beautiful One! The women fight with their side glances and amorous gestures; but I have never heard a woman like you coming to fight with arms and weapons. Even the delicate flowers, Mâlati, etc., cause pain on the bodies of beautiful women like you; so it is not advisable to fight against you with flowers even; what to speak of sharpened arrows! Fie on those who spend their lives according to the Ksatriya Dharma! Oh! Who can praise that Dharma which allows this dear body of ours to be pierced by sharpened arrows? This dear body is nourished by sweet food, by being smeared with oil, and by smelling the scents of beautiful flowers. Ought, then, one to destroy it by arrows from an enemy? Men get their bodies pierced by arrows and then become rich. Now is it possible for the riches to give pleasure afterwards when they caused such pains in the beginning? Even if this be so, fie on those riches! O Beautiful One! It seems you are not intelligent; why have you desired to fight instead of to enjoy sexual pleasures. O beautiful! What merits have you found in the battle that you have chosen this. Where you see the action of the axes and spears, striking each other with clubs, and hurling of sharpened arrows and weapons and where, when death comes, jackals come and feed upon the dead bodies, what merits have you been able to trace out in these things! It is only those cunning poets that praise these; they say that those who die in battle go to heaven! O Beautiful! Those sayings are, no doubt, mere flatteries. Therefore, O Excellent One! Go away anywhere else you like; or accept this king Mahisa, the tormentor of the Devas, as your husband.”

24-30. Vyâsa said :-- O King! The Dânava Chiksura speaking thus, the Divine Mother addressed him thus :-- O Stupid! Why are you speaking false words, having no significance, like a literary man giving out mere words only? You do not know anything of politics, ethics, metaphysics; you serve the illiterate and stupid; therefore, you are also a first class illiterate; you do not know what are the royal duties; then what are you speaking before me? I will kill that Mahisâsura in battle make the soil muddy with his blood, thus establish firmly My pillar of Fame and then go happily to My abode. Surely will I slay that vain vicious demon, the tormentor of the Devas. Better fight steadily. O Stupid! Better go to Pâtâla with all the Dânavas, if you and Mahisa desire to live any longer. And if you like to go unto death, then be ready and fight without any delay; I will slay you all; this is My firm resolve.

31-39. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Hearing the Devî’s words, the Dânava, proud of his own strength, began to hurl instantly on Her showers of arrows, as if another shower of rain burst upon Her. The Devî cut off those arrows

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into pieces by Her sharp arrows and shot at him dreadful arrows like poisonous snakes. Then their fight became astounding to the public; the Divine Mother, then, struck him with Her club so much that he fell down from his chariot. That vicious demon, thus struck by the club, remained senseless near to his chariot for two muhûrtas, fixed like a mountain. Tâmra, the tormentor of the foes, seeing him thus, could not remain steady and came forward to fight with Chandikâ. The Devî seeing him laughed and said, “O Dânava! Come, Come, I will instantly send you unto death. Or, what is the use of your coming? You are so weak that you can be called lifeless. What is that stupid Mahisa doing now? Is he thinking out the way to save his life? You all are too weak; no use in killing you, all my labours will go in vain, if that wicked Mahisa, the enemy of the gods, be not slain. Therefore, do you go to your home and send here your king Mahisa. I am staying here in that form in which that wicked one likes very much to see Me.”

40-56. Hearing Her words, Tâmra became very angry and drawing his bow up to his ear, began to hurl arrows after arrows on Chandikâ Devî. The Bhagavatî, too, had her eyes reddened with anger and drawing Her bow began to shoot arrows quickly at the demon, wishing to kill, as early as possible, the enemy of the gods. In the meanwhile, Chiksura regained his senses, and taking up again his bow in an instant, came before the Devî. Then Chiksura and Tâmra, the two valiant warriors, began to fight dreadfully with the Devî. Mahâ Mâyâ then, became very angry and began to hurl arrows after arrows so incessantly that all the armours of all the Dânavas became pierced and were cut down to pieces. The Asuras, thus pierced by arrows, became infuriated with anger and hurled angrily a network of arrows upon the Devî. The Dânavas, thus struck with sharp arrows and filled with cuts and wounds looked like the red Kims’uka flowers in the spring. The fight then grew so severe between Tâmra and Bhagavatî that the seers, the Devas, were all struck with wonder. Tâmra struck on the head of the lion with his dreadful hard Musala (club), made of iron, and laughed and shouted aloud. Seeing him thus vociferating, the Devî became angry and cut off his head by her sharp axes in no time. The head being thus severed from the body, Tâmra, though headless, for a moment turned round his Musala and then fell down on the ground. The powerful Chiksura, seeing Tâmra thus falling down, instantly took up his axe and ran after Chandikâ. Seeing Chiksura with axe in his hand, the Bhagavatî quickly shot at him five arrows. With one arrow, his axe was cut down, with the second arrow his hands were cut and with the remaining ones his head was severed from his body. Thus when the two cruel warriors were slain, their soldiers soon fled

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away in terror in all directions. The Devas were exceedingly glad at their downfall and showered gladly flowers from the sky and uttered shouts of Victory to the Devî. The Risis, Gandarbhas, the Vetâlas, the Siddhas and Châranas were all very glad and began to utter repeated, “O Goddess! Victory, victory be Yours.”

Here ends the Fourteenth Chapter of the Fifth Skandha on the killing of Tâmra and Chiksura in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fifth Book: Chapter 15

THE FIFTH BOOK

Chapter XV

On the slaying of Vidâlâksa and Asilomâ

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1-3. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Hearing the two Demons slain by the Devî, Mahisâsura became very much amazed and sent the powerful Asilomâ and Vidâlâksa and the other Dânavas to the battle to kill the Devî. The Dânavas, all very skilled in the art of warfare, marched on for battle, fully equipped with weapons and clad in armour, and we attended by a vast army. They arrived there and saw the Divine Mother with eighteen hands taking Her stand on a lion, with axes and shield in Her hands.

4-5. The calm-tempered Asilomâ appeared before the Devî ready to kill the Daityas, saluted Her and smilingly said :-- O Devî! Why have You come here? and what for You are killing these faultless Daityas? O Beautiful One! Tell all these to me truly. We will make treaty with you.

6-17. Take gold, jewels, pearls and any other excellent things the you like and retire from the field as early as passible. Why do you like this warfare tending to increase misery; the wise persons say that it leads to the destruction of all happiness. Your body is very delicate; it cannot bear the stroke of flowers even; then why are you suffering the stroke of weapons on your bodies; I am very much puzzled to think these things. See! The cleverness is judged when peace is the result thereof; for it leads always to happiness. Then why are you liking to fight which will lead only to pain and suffering. Happiness is only to be had and pain is to be avoided; this is the rule. O Devî! That happiness is again of two kinds :-- Permanent and transitory. The pleasure that comes out of the knowledge of Atmajñân is permanent and that which is derived from enjoyments is transitory; these who know truly the Veda S’âstra, they avoid this transitory pleasure of enjoyments. If you follow the opinion of the Mimâmsakas and do not believe in the

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existence of future births, even then you ought not to fight; when you have got this youthful age, you ought to enjoy the excellent pleasures in this world. O One of lean stomach! And if you doubt in the existence of the other worlds after death, even then you ought to desert from fighting and perform, in this life, such actions as will lead you to the attainment of Heavens. This fully developed womanhood is transient; knowing this do virtuous actions always; the wise ones always avoid tormenting others; thus one ought to perform things not contradictory to Dharma, Artha and Kama. Therefore, O Auspicious One! Do You also things virtuous always. O Mother! Why are you killing these Daityas without any cause? There is, again, the feeling of mercy; the lives again of all are dependent on Truth. Therefore the sages always preserve piety, mercy and Truth. O Beautiful One! Then what is the use in Your killing these Demons? Please say explicitly on this point.

18-27. The Devî said :-- O Powerful one! Hear why I have come here and why I am killing the Daityas? I answer your question on the above points. O Demon! I, though merely a spectator, always go about all over the worlds, seeing the justices and injustices done by the several souls there. Never I possess any desire of enjoyment, nor have I greed for anything, nor have I enmity with any creature. Only to preserve the virtue and religion and to keep up the righteous, I roam over the worlds. This is My vow and I always adhere to it. To preserve the good and to put down the evil doers is My duty. Many Avataras are to take their incarnations, cycles after cycles, to preserve the Vedas; therefore I incarnate Myself in yugas after yugas. Now the wicked Mahisa is ready to destroy the Devas; seeing this, I have come here to kill him. I tell you verily that I will slay that vicious powerful Mahisâsura, the enemy of the gods. Knowing this, you remain or depart, as you desire. Or you can go to Mahisa, that impious son of a she-buffalo, and say what is the use in sending other Asuras to the battle; he can come himself and fight. If your king likes to make a treaty, then let him avoid his enmity with the Devas and go down to the Pâtâla. Let him return to the Devas whatever he has taken perforce from them and go to the Pâtâla, where Prahlâda is residing.

28-29. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Hearing thus the Devî’s words, Asilomâ asked gladly, before the Devî, the powerful Asura Vidâlâksa :-- Well, Vidâlâksa! You have heard just now all what the Devî has said; now are we to observe treaty or declare war. What are we to do under the circumstances?

30-34. Vidâlâksa said :-- Our king knows full well that his death will certainly take place in the battle; knowing this, he is not willing

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to make peace, out of his egoism and vanity. He is seeing before him daily the deaths of the Dânavas and still he has sent us to battle. Who can overcome the destiny? The duty of a servant is a very difficult one; he will have to be always submissive and obedient, without caring the least for his own self-respect; just as the dancing dolls are completely under the hands of the actors and their movements vary according to the pulling of the wires employed in making them dance. How can we then go to our master and say such hard words as he would give away to the Devas all the gems and jewels and go down to Pâtâla with other Dânavas. One considers it one’s duty to speak pleasant words though untrue; true words cannot be beneficial; true and at the same time beneficial words are very rare in this world; at such critical cases, one ought to remain silent. Especially heroes ought never to excite their kings by useless words; this is the essence of politics. We should never go and advise our king with eagerness what is best or to ask advice from him about such things; the king would then certainly be very angry. Therefore we ought to do our duties to the king, even if our lives be at stake. To consider our lives as nothing and to fight for our king are what is best for us.

35-57. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Thus thinking, the two heroes then wore their coats of armour, mounted on their chariots and, with bows and arrows in their hands, became ready for fight. First Vidâlâksa shot seven arrows; the great warrior Asilomâ stood aloof at a distance as a mere witness. The Divine Mother cut off those arrows to pieces with Her arrows, no sooner they reached Her, and then shot at Vidâlâksa three arrows sharpened on stone. The demon Vidâlâksa fell senselss by these arrows on the battle-field and after a short while died, as if ordained by Fate. Seeing Vidâlâksa thus dead, Asilomâ took up his bows and arrows and came up, for fight. The hero, then, raising his left hand, said briefly, thus :-- “O Devî! I know that death is inevitable to the Dânavas; still I am ready to fight; for I am dependent and Mahisa is of very dull intellect; he cannot make any distinction between what is really good and what is merely pleasant. I will never speak before him unpleasant words, though beneficial. Rather I will sacrifice my life in the battle-field than advise him anything, be that auspicious or inauspicious. The Dânavas are being killed no sooner they are shot at by your arrows; seeing this I consider Fate superior to all. Prowess does not lead to any success; Fie on one’s prowess! Thus saying, the Demon began to shower arrows after arrows on the Devî; the Devî, too, cut them to pieces with Her own arrows before they came to Her; and, becoming angry, soon pierced him with arrows. The Devas witnessed this sight from above. The body of the

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Demon was then covered with cuts and wounds; blood began to flow from them; the Demon consequently began to shine like the jovial Kimsuka tree. Asilomâ then lifted aloft his heavy iron club and ran after Chandikâ and hurt the lion on his head with anger. Not caring at all this severe stroke of the club inflicted by that powerful Demon, the lion tore asunder his arms with his claws. Then that dreadful Demon leapt with club in his hand and got up the shoulder of the lion and hit the Devî very hard. O King! The Devî, then, baffled the hit and cut off the Demon’s head with Her sharp axe. The head being thus severed, the Demon was thrown on the ground with great force; seeing this, a general cry of distress arose among his soldiers. The Devas shouted aloud “Victory to the Devî” and chanted hymns to Her. The drums of the Devas resounded and the Gandarbhas began to dance in great joy. Seeing the two Demons thus lying dead on the battlefield, the lion killed some of the remaining forces by his sheer strength and ate up others, and made the battlefield void of any persons. Some fled away in great distress to Mahisâsura. The fugitives began to cry aloud, “Save us, save us” and said, “O King! Asilomâ and Vidâlâksa are both slain; and those soldiers that remained were eaten up by the lion.” Thus they told and plunged the King in an ocean of dire distress. Hearing their words, Mahisa became absent minded through pain and grief and began to think over the matter with great anxiety.

Here ends the Fifteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the slaying of Vidâlâksa and Asilomâ in S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.

The Devi Bhagavatam: The Fifth Book: Chapter 16

THE FIFTH BOOK

Chapter XVI

On the conversation between the Devî and Mahisâsura

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1-7. Vyâsa said :-- O King! Hearing those words, the King Mahisa in anger addressed the charioteer Darûka :-- “Bring over my chariot quickly. That chariot is drawn by one thousand excellent horses, is bedecked with banners, flags, and ensigns, is furnished with various arms and weapons, and is endowed with good wheels of a white colour, and beautiful poles in which the yoke is fixed.” The charioteer brought the chariot instantly and duly informed the king, “O King! I have got the chariot ready at your door, your beautiful chariot, bedecked with beautiful carpets and various arms and weapons.” Hearing that the chariot had been brought, Mahisa thought, the Devî might not care him, seeing him ugly faced with a pair of horns and therefore decided to assume a human shape and then go to the battle. The beauty and cleverness are the delights

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of women; therefore I will go before Her, with a beautiful body and with all the cleverness and dexterities. For I will never be delighted with anything but that woman looking at me with fondness and becoming passionately attached to me.