The story of Durga slaying Mahishasura from the Devi Mahatmya: the gods' radiance, the gifts of weapons, the shape-shifting buffalo demon and what it all means.
Durga on her lion fights Mahishasura: a 19th-century Kalighat painting. Photo: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The Devi Mahatmya opens the episode bluntly. Long ago the gods and the asuras (demons) fought a war that lasted a hundred years.
An illustrated leaf of the Devi Mahatmya. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Led by Brahma, the gods went to Shiva and Vishnu and told them everything.
Durga on her lion fights Mahishasura: a 19th-century Kalighat painting. Photo: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Then each god gave her a weapon drawn out of his own. Shiva gave a trident from his trident and Vishnu a discus from his discus.
Mahishasuramardini, Durga slaying the buffalo demon: a 12th-century chlorite sculpture of the Pala school. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Mahishasura heard the noise and rushed towards it with his army. He saw a goddess whose radiance lit up the three worlds, her thousand arms filling the sky.
Durga on her lion fights Mahishasura: a 19th-century Kalighat painting. Photo: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
At last Mahishasura came himself, in his buffalo form. He trampled the goddess's companions, gored them with his horns, lashed the earth with his tail and tossed mountains into the air.
Mahishasuramardini, Durga slaying the buffalo demon: a 12th-century chlorite sculpture of the Pala school. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Most devotees read the story on several levels at once.
Durga on her lion fights Mahishasura: a 19th-century Kalighat painting. Photo: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Look closely at a traditional Bengali image and you will see the text.
An illustrated leaf of the Devi Mahatmya. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The story of Durga slaying Mahishasura from the Devi Mahatmya: the gods' radiance, the gifts of weapons, the shape-shifting buffalo demon and what it all means.
The story of Durga and Mahishasura → Next story: Mahishasuramardini: the dawn radio programme of Mahalaya All photo storiesMusic: Sitar sample yaman, Tito Dutta, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.