Markandeyapurana 88
English (machine translation) 88
- Language
- English
Contents
- 88.61 — 3 parts
88.1
The seer said: / And when the daitya Caṇḍa was slain, and Muṇḍa struck down, / and the numerous armies destroyed, the lord of asuras,
88.2
The mighty Śumbha, his mind enslaved by anger, / then ordered the mobilization of all the armies of the daityas:
88.3
"Today let eighty-six [clans of] daityas with weapons raised march out with all their forces; / let eighty-four [clans of] Kambu demons march out surrounded by their own armies.
88.4
Let fifty families of asuras of the Koṭivīryas, / and one hundred families of the Dhaumras march forth at my command.
88.5
Let the Kālaka, Daurhṛda, Maurya, and Kālakeya asuras, / prepared for battle, march out quickly at my command."
88.6
Having thus commanded, the lord of asuras, Śumbha, whose command was terrible, / marched out surrounded by many thousands of great forces.
88.7
Seeing that exceedingly terrifying army arriving, Caṇḍikā / filled the space between earth and sky with the twang of her bowstring.
88.8
And that lion made a tremendous roar, O king, / and Ambikā magnified that roar with the sound of her bell.
88.9
With the space of the quarters filled with the sounds of the bowstring, lion, and bell, / Kālī, opening her mouth wide, prevailed with terrifying shrieks.
88.10
Hearing that sound, the angry daitya armies from all four directions / surrounded the Goddess, the lion, and Kālī.
88.11
At this juncture, O king, for the destruction of the enemies of the gods / and for the welfare of the lion-like immortals, endowed with supreme valour and strength,
88.12
The powers of Brahmā, Śiva, Guha, and Viṣṇu, / as well as of Indra, having issued from their bodies, went to Caṇḍikā in their own forms.
88.13
Whatever form, ornament, and mount belonged to each god, / in that very manner his power came to fight the asuras.
88.14
Arriving at the front of a celestial vehicle harnessed to swans, with a rosary and water-pot, / came the power of Brahmā; she is called Brahmāṇī.
88.15
Māheśvarī arrived, mounted on a bull, holding a supreme trident, / wearing great serpents as bangles and adorned with the crescent moon.
88.16
Kaumārī, spear in hand and with a noble peacock for her mount, / Ambikā having the form of Guha, advanced to fight the daityas.
88.17
Likewise, the Vaiṣṇavī power, seated upon Garuḍa, / approached holding a conch, discus, mace, bow, and sword in her hands.
88.18
That incomparable boar form of Hari which [he] assumed— / the power bearing that Vārāhī body also arrived there.
88.19
Nārasiṃhī, bearing a form resembling Nṛsiṃha,
arrived there, scattering clusters of stars with the toss of her mane.
88.20
Likewise, Aindrī, thunderbolt in hand, seated upon the lord of elephants,
arrived with a thousand eyes, exactly like Śakra.
88.21
Then Īśāna, surrounded by these goddesses’ powers,
said to Caṇḍikā: 'Quickly let the asuras be slain for my pleasure.'
88.22
Then from the goddess's body issued a most terrifying power of Caṇḍikā,
exceedingly fierce, howling with the sounds of a hundred jackals.
88.23
And that unconquered goddess said to Īśāna of the smoke-colored matted locks:
'Lord, go as a messenger to the presence of Śumbha and Niśumbha.
88.24
Tell Śumbha and Niśumbha, those two excessively arrogant dānavas,
and whatever other dānavas have assembled there for battle:
88.25
Let Indra regain the three worlds; let the gods enjoy the sacrificial oblations;
and depart to Pātāla if you wish to live.
88.26
If, however, puffed up with strength, you long for battle,
then come, and let my jackals be satisfied with your flesh.'
88.27
Because Śiva himself was appointed to the embassy by that goddess,
she became known from then on in this world as Śivadūtī.
88.28
Those great asuras too, hearing the words of the goddess recounted by Śarva,
filled with indignation, went to where Kātyāyanī stood.
88.29
Then first, in front, with showers of arrows, spears, and lances,
the enemies of the gods, with surging wrath, showered that goddess.
88.30
And she effortlessly severed those arrows, tridents, spears, and axes
that had been hurled, with great arrows loosed from her drawn bow.
88.31
Then, before her, Kālī roved about, tearing enemies apart
with blows of her trident and crushing them with her skull-topped staff.
88.32
Brahmāṇī, wherever she ran, deprived the foes of their strength
and vitality by sprinkling them with water from her water-pot.
88.33
Māheśvarī struck down the daityas with her trident, and likewise Vaiṣṇavī with her discus,
and Kaumārī, exceedingly enraged, with her spear.
88.34
By the strike of Aindrī's thunderbolt, daityas and dānavas by the hundreds
fell torn asunder upon the earth, pouring out streams of blood.
88.35
Shattered by the blows of her snout, their chests pierced by the tips of her tusks,
they fell before the boar-form, and were torn apart by her discus.
88.36
Nārasiṃhī roamed in the battle, devouring other great asuras
whom she tore apart with her claws, filling the quarters of the sky with her roars.
88.37
Demoralized by the violent, mocking laughter of Śivadūtī, the asuras
fell to the ground; and she then devoured those who had fallen.
88.38
Seeing the furious group of Mothers crushing the great asuras in this way,
the soldiers of the enemies of the gods fled by various means.
88.39
Seeing the daityas devoted to flight, afflicted by the group of Mothers,
the great asura Raktabīja came forward in fury to fight.
88.40
Whenever a drop of blood fell from his body to the earth,
a great asura of equal measure sprang up on the ground.
88.41
Club in hand, that great asura fought with the power of Indra;
and then Aindrī struck Raktabīja with her thunderbolt.
88.42
From him, struck by the thunderbolt, much blood quickly flowed;
and from it warriors arose, having his form and his prowess.
88.43
As many drops of blood as fell from his body,
so many men were born, equal to him in valor, strength, and heroism.
88.44
And those men born of blood fought there
together with the Mothers, terrifying with the extremely fierce fall of weapons.
88.45
And when his head was wounded again by the fall of the thunderbolt,
blood flowed, and from it men were born by the thousands.
88.46
Vaiṣṇavī struck him with her discus in the battle,
and Aindrī struck that lord of the asuras with her club.
88.47
By the great asuras of his measure, sprung from the flow of blood
of him who was cut by the discus of Vaiṣṇavī, the world was filled by thousands.
88.48
Kaumārī struck the great asura Raktabīja with her spear,
Vārāhī likewise with her sword, and Māheśvarī with her trident.
88.49
And that daitya too, overcome with rage, struck all the Mothers
separately with his club, that great asura Raktabīja.
88.50
From him, struck manifoldly on the ground with spears, tridents, and the like,
there fell a stream of blood; from that, asuras arose by the hundreds.
88.51
And the entire world was pervaded by those asuras
born of the asura's blood; then the gods became exceedingly afraid.
88.52
Seeing those gods dejected, Caṇḍikā spoke swiftly;
she said to Kālī: 'Cāmuṇḍā, open your mouth wide.
88.53
With this mouth, swiftly catch the great asuras sprung from the drops of blood
resulting from the strike of my weapon, and the drops of blood of Raktabīja.
88.54
Roam the battle devouring the great asuras born from him;
in this way, this daitya, drained of blood, will meet destruction;
and as they are devoured by you, fierce ones will not arise again.'
88.55
The sage said:
Having thus addressed her, the goddess then struck him with her trident;
and Kālī caught the blood of Raktabīja with her mouth.
88.56
Then he struck Caṇḍikā there with his club;
and the blow of the club did not cause her even the slightest pain.
88.57
From his struck body much blood flowed;
wherever it fell, Cāmuṇḍā caught it with her own mouth.
88.58
The great asuras who arose in her mouth from the fall of blood,
Cāmuṇḍā then devoured, and she drank his blood.
88.59
The goddess struck Raktabīja, whose blood was being drunk by Cāmuṇḍā,
with her trident, discus, arrows, swords, and lances.
88.60
He fell upon the surface of the earth, slain by the barrage of weapons,
and drained of blood, O protector of the earth—that great asura Raktabīja.
88.61
Then the gods attained incomparable joy, O king;
the group of Mothers born from them danced, intoxicated with blood.
88.61.p1
Thus ends the eighty-eighth chapter, named 'The Slaying of Raktabīja', in the Devīmāhātmya of the Sāvarṇi manvantara, in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa.
88.61.p2
Eighty-ninth chapter - 89
88.61.p3
The king said:
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Commentaries (1)
- Guptavatī — Bhāskararāya Makhin 1741, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit