The Death of Mahishasura

By Rahul Kumar

This is a story about how goddess Durga destroyed an evil wicked demon named Mahishasura. This demon wanted to rule the entire universe. To do this, he did a severe penance to Lord Brahma. Brahma then arrived and said, "Oh Mahisha, open your eyes!". Mahishasura bowed down and said, "Bless me my lord and fulfill my wishes". Mahisha then asked Lord Brahma that he wanted to become immortal and to rule the entire universe. Lord Brahma said that everyone must die and that Mahisha should ask for another wish. Mahishasura then asked that he be killed only by a woman, thinking that a woman would be too weak to kill him, so he would be virtually immortal. Lord Brahma then granted his wish and left. The demon Mahisha then gave a big laugh.

Mahisha and his soldiers decided to attack Indra's palace. The palace messengers warned Indra who got ready to fight Mahisha. When Indra saw him, he said," Stupid demon, I have defeated you a number of times but you are still alive. Get ready to face death now". Mahisha laughed and said," Foolish Indra, hold your tongue and fight!" Indra knew that he was no match for the power of Mahishasura. Having defeated Indra, Mahishasura took over Indra's throne and became a lord. He ruled with tyranny and torture.

For example one day there were four sages praying before a fireplace with Mahisha watching them closely. The sages sang the hymns and poured ghee in the fire. But when one of the sages mentioned Shiva's name while praying, Mahisha became very angry. He kicked the fireplace and said," Oh sages, you should pray to me, not to that lowly Shiva! Death to you all for this insult! He then cut off all the sages' heads. This scared everyone who had no choice but to pray to Mahishasura.

Now, all the other gods, dejected and disappointed went to Brahma to seek help. The gods had a little talk and Brahma told them that only a woman could kill Mahisha. So the gods decided that the goddess Parvati should take the form of Durga. The gods would then give Durga their weapons. They thought that with hundreds of arms and weapons, she would surely kill Mahishasura. Shiva gave Durga his trishul. Vishnu gave Durga his conch and his sudarshan chakra. Brahma gave Durga his intellect. Finally Durga became the ultimate goddess.

The gods, Durga and many soldiers marched up to Mashishasura's fortress with pride saying, Jai Kali, Jai Durga. When Mahishasura saw Durga, he was surprised and just laughed at the sight. Mahishasura said," You could never hurt me. So let's just fight and get this over with."

But Durga stood firm saying, "Oh fool, I am not an ordinary woman, I am your death. Didn't you wish to be killed by the hands of a woman? Now get ready to die!" The battle was harsh and bloody. Many were killed. Mahisha first turned into a lion, then into an elephant just to get rid of Durga! He finally turned into a buffalo to torment all the soldiers. Durga then had her chance. As Mahishasura ran up to Durga, she quickly pierced his back with the trishul. There he just lay, screaming in pain until all was quiet. Mahishasura was dead! Everybody cheered Durga and said, "Jai Jai Matha! Durga Matha!" And everyone then lived in peace, away from Mahishasura's rule