(Collected
from many sources – not entirely my own)
Once upon a time there lived a
demon (Asura) king of the underworld who roamed the three worlds (heaven, earth
and the underworld) in the guise of a buffalo (Mahish). He was thus called
“Mahish-asura”. Mahishasura was extremely power-hungry and ambitious. But he
became an ascetic and undertook a long and arduous penance to appease the Lord
Brahma, who finally appeared before him. Mahishasura asked for a boon that no
man or god could kill him, and Brahma granted it.
This made Mahishasura virtually
invincible and he began to torment the three worlds. In sheer desperation, the
gods of Heaven and the people on Earth approached the Supreme Trinity (Brahma –
the creator, Vishnu – the Preserver, and Shiva – the destroyer) to do
something.
The Supreme Trinity combined their
powers to create the Goddess Durga to circumvent Brahma’s boon. She was duly
armed with all the weapons of the Gods and the lion became her mount. The
battle between Durga and Mahishasura lasted 10 days and nights, with the last
four days being the fiercest.
In the end, as Mahishasura lay
dying he realized his folly and repented. He realized that Durga was the combination
of all the powers in the Cosmos and asked one last boon from her – that he be
worshipped along with Durga for all eternity. Durga granted this boon and that
is how the image of the Goddess killing the demon (Mahishasur – mardini) was
born.
***
At the philosophical level, this story
represents many things :
·
The Supreme Trinity of Brahma,
Vishnu & Shiva – the Creator, the Preserver & the Destroyer
respectively – represent the Supreme, Powerful Cosmic energy of the Universe,
where all three phenomena keep happening simultaneously.
A particular Sanskrit “sloka” (verse) illustrates this :
“Shrishti – Sthiti – Vinasanam – Shakti – Bhoote – Sanatani
Gunashrayee – Gunamayee – Narayani – Namostute”
A rough translation would be : (You are the embodiment of Primordial Force
that drives Creation, Preservation, Destruction; O Narayani, we salute thee...)
·
Durga represents virtue
(dharma) while Mahishasura represents vice (adharma). These two are always
present all the time. Even during worship. That is
reality.
·
Mahishasura being worshipped
along with Durga means that there is nothing in this world as “pure evil” or
“pure good”. Even Mahishasura was an
ascetic once and powerful enough to appease Lord Brahma. But pride, avarice and
tyranny brought about his downfall. Even a boon from the Creator could not save
him.
·
Most importantly it also tells
the tale that when crime, tyranny, and evil forces try to overrun the general
scheme of things, the Gods put in their best efforts to counter the evil and
re-establish the rule of dharma, or virtue. A sloka from the Bhagwad Gita that talks about
the periodic advent of prophets on this Earth, is perhaps relevant here :
“paritranaya sadhunam, vinasaya ca duskritam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya, sambhav
ami yuge yuge” -
(To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to
re-establish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.)
