Skandapurana 16.119

Īśvara said: / Then, O great goddess, one should go to the Great Goddess of great splendor, / the slayer of the demons Bala and Atibala, famed by that name on earth, // 1

the goddess without beginning or end, residing in that sacred field, / surrounded by a retinue of ten million spirits, the destroyer of all demons. // 2

The goddess said: / Why has she been called by you the slayer of the demons Bala and Atibala, O Lord? / How were the two demons named Bala and Atibala struck down? // 3

Where does that goddess reside, and what is her power, O Maheśvara? / Tell me her entire māhātmya in full detail. // 4

Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I shall relate the narrative that destroys sins, / hearing which with devotion, a mortal is freed from all offenses. // 5

There was a mighty son of Mahiṣa named Raktāsura, / of huge body and mighty arms, like a second Hiraṇyākṣa. // 6

He had two sons named Bala and Atibala; / having conquered all the gods led by Devendra and Agni, // 7

the two easily ruled the kingdom in this world of three realms without fear. / Thirty-three heroes are renowned as commanders at the head of their army, // 8

terrible in nature, great warriors, leaders of a thousand akṣauhiṇīs, / with lion-like shoulders, huge bodies, wicked minds, and great strength: // 9

Dhūmrākṣa, Bhīmadaṃṣṭra, Kālavaśya, Mahāhanu, / Brahmaghna, Yajñakopa, Strīghna, Pāpaniketana, // 10

Vidyunmālī, Bandhūka, Śaṅkukarṇa, Vibhāvasu, / Devāntaka, Vikarmā, Durbhikṣa, and Krūra, // 11

Hayagrīva, Aśvakarṇa, Ketumān, Vṛṣabha, Dvija, / Śarabha, Śalabha, Vyāghra, Nikuṃbha, Maṇika, Baka, // 12

Śūrpaka, Vikṣara, Mālī, Kāla, Daṇḍaka, and Kerala— / these demons of huge body were commanders of their army. // 13

Thus the earth, extending over fifty koṭis [of yojanas], was pervaded by them. / Knowing this, the gods, their minds agitated with fear, // 14

went with all the celestial ṛṣis to the forest of the Himavat. / Then, with concentrated minds, they praised that goddess with this hymn: // 15

The gods said: / Victory to you, the Imperishable! Victory to you, the Infinite! Victory to you, the Unmanifest, free from ailment! / Victory, O goddess, Mahāmāyā! Victory to you who are venerated by celestial ṛṣis! // 16

Victory, O Sovereign of the Universe, Gaṅgā! Victory to you who bestow all accomplishments! / Victory, Brahmāṇī, Kaumārī! Victory, Nārāyaṇī, Supreme Mistress! // 17

Victory, Brahmāṇī, Cāmuṇḍā! Victory, Indrāṇī, Maheśvarī! / Victory, Mother Mahālakṣmī! Victory, Pārvatī, all-pervading one! // 18

Victory, O goddess who create the universe! Victory, Airāvatī, Bhāratī! / Victory, Infinite One! Victory, Jayā! Victory, O goddess abounding in waters! // 19

Victory to you, Īśānī, Śivā, Śarvā! Victory constantly, O you who are worshipped by victory! / O bestower of liberation, victory, O omniscient one! Victory, O granter of dharma, wealth, and desire!

Victory, O Gāyatrī, Kalyāṇī! Victory, O Sahyā, Vibhāvarī! / Victory, O Durgā, Mahākālī, Śivadūtī, Jayā, Ajayā!

Victory, O Caṇḍā, Mahāmuṇḍā! Victory, O Nandā, beloved of Śiva! / Victory, O Kṣemaṃkarī, Śivā! Victory, O Kalyāṇī, Revatī!

Victory, O Umā, Siddhimāṅgalyā, Harasiddhi, bow to you! / Victory, O Aparṇā, victory, O Ānandā, slayer of the demon Mahiṣa!

Victory, O Medhā, Viśālākṣī! Victory, O Anaṅgā, Sarasvatī! / Victory, O abode of endless virtues! Victory, O whirlpool, destroyer of the enemies of the gods!

Victory, O accomplisher of resolves! Victory, O beauty of the three worlds! / Victory, O slayer of Śumbha and Niśumbha! Victory, O Padmā, born of the mountain!

Victory, O Kauśikī, Kaumārī! Victory, O Vāruṇī, granter of desires! / Bows, bows to you, Śarvāṇī! Repeatedly, victory to you, Ambikā!

Protect us, protect us, O goddess, refuge of those who have sought refuge!

Puffed with praise in this way by all the gods, O fair-faced one, / the Blessed Lady revealed herself, illuminating the horizons with her brilliance.

Bowing to her, the destroyer of fear, those gods said: / 'Having slain the two mighty Daityas named Bala and Atibala, / and their vast army, protect [us] from this great fear.'

Hearing their words and granting them fearlessness, / she then assumed a wondrous form, three-eyed and crested with the moon,

mounted upon a lion, the great goddess bearing diverse weapons and missiles, / fair-faced, twenty-armed, resembling a flashing streak of lightning.

Then Ambikā uttered loud cries with boisterous laughter again and again.

By her terrible sound the entire sky was filled; / the whole earth shook, girdled by rivers and the ocean,

lovely, with mountains for high breasts, like a woman stricken with fear. / Those Asuras too arrived there, accompanied by their fourfold army,

of well-known prowess, equal to Death and Yama at the end of time— / Rakṣases, Dānavas, and Daityas, even those dwelling in Pātāla.

All those lords of Daityas gathered by the crores. / Then a great battle ensued between the goddess and the Asuras,

which was the cause of an untimely destruction of the entire universe, O ruler of the gods: / thirty-three thousand akṣauhiṇīs,

twenty-one thousand, eight hundred, and seventy / chariots swift as the wind, with their retinues and warriors.

Effortlessly and untroubled, the goddess killed them and brought them to destruction.

Then the earth was covered with the bodies of the powerful Dānavas / slain by the goddess, and of elephants, horses, and chariots.

In that battle-yard crowded with the dance of headless trunks and mired with flowing fat and bones, / night-roaming demons then roamed about, energized.

Jackals, vultures, and crows swooped down abundantly. / Somewhere other night-roaming demons, exhilarated from drinking blood, / having propitiated their ancestors and likewise worshipped the seers,

mercilessly devoured elephants, men, and horses; / and others crossed the ocean of blood on rafts of chariots.

Thus in that fierce battle dense with hosts of the enemies of the gods, / Ambikā shone forth, holding bow, arrows, sword, and spear,

crushing the pride of lordly elephants, slaying troops of horses, / destroying the armies of the enemies of the gods, looking all around.

Seeing that proud goddess upon a great throne drawn by eight lions, radiant as a mountain or a white swan, like a bull, those valiant lords of the Daityas, their wrath aroused, rushed forward, shouting, roaring, with voices like thunderclouds.

Slain then, the Asuras fled, wailing loudly; / some Dānavas entered the sea, and some [fled to] the mountains.

Some, having shaved their heads and become wretched, lived in the forest; / speaking of the virtue of compassion, they took to the vow of Nirgranthas.

Some, desperate for life, terrified, resorted to heretical ways; / devoted to rationalist argumentation, foolish, impure, and indifferent [to the Vedas].

Even today they are seen here in the world as mendicants indeed; / likewise other sectarians excluded from Śiva's scriptures.

Some are seen by all people in this world observing the Kaula vow, / deeply given to liquor, women, and meat, and false ascetics committed to improper actions,

mostly roguish, sinful, and devoted to tongue and genitals. / Thus all were slain by the goddess, along with Bala and Atibala.

Having reached the Prabhāsa sacred field, Ambikā then settled there, / accompanied by the sixty-four Yoginīs, the destroyer of sin; / she became celebrated on earth at Prabhāsa as the destroyer of Bala and Atibala.

The goddess said: / The sixty-four Yoginīs that have been mentioned by you, O lord of gods— / tell me their names, which remove all sins.

Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I will proclaim the great glory of the Yoginīs, / which grants all protection, is divine, and destroys great danger.

First there is Mahālakṣmī, Nandā, and Kṣemaṃkarī, / Śivadūtī, Mahābhadrā, Bhrāmarī, Candramaṇḍalā,

Revatī, Harasiddhi, Durgā, Viṣamalocanā, / Sahajā, Kulajā, Kubjā, Māyāvī, Śāmbhavī, Kriyā,

Ādyā, Sarvagatā, Śuddhā, Bhāvagamyā, Manotigā, / Vidyā, Avidyā, Mahāmāyā, Suṣumnā, Sarvamaṅgalā,

Oṃkārātmā, Mahādevī, Vedārthajananī, Śivā, / Purāṇā, Anvīkṣikī, Dīkṣā, Cāmuṇḍā, Śaṃkarapriyā,

Brāhmī, Śāntikarī, Gaurī, Brahmaṇyā, Brāhmaṇapriyā, / Bhadrā, Bhagavatī, Kṛṣṇā, Grahamakṣatramālinī,

Tripurā, Tvaritā, Nityā, Sāṅkhyā, Kuṇḍalinī, Dhruvā, / Kalyāṇī, Śobhanā, Nirayā, Niṣkalā, Paramā Kalā,

Yoginī, Yogasadbhāvā, Yogagamyā, Guhāśayā, / Kātyāyanī, Umā, Śarvā, and Aparṇā is proclaimed.

Thus the sixty-four have been proclaimed to you, O great goddess. / Whoever praises Caṇḍikā with devotion through this divine hymn...

Śarvāṇī protects him from all perils like a son, / especially on the fourteenth, the eighth, and the ninth [lunar days].

Undertaking fasting, eating once a day, or living on unasked-for food, / those who observe vows and recite the praises of Caṇḍikā, O goddess,

for half a year or for one year, become perfected practitioners who move in the truth. / And in the bright fortnight of the month of Āśvina, at the beginnings of the Manvantaras, and on the Aṣṭakā days,

having held a great festival, one should worship the goddess for the increase of prosperity. / A devotee of Durgā should wear golden sandals belonging to the goddess,

and a man [should carry] a dagger always, to pacify negligence and obstacles. / Those who resort to a demonic disposition, with animal meat and liquor,

and worship Ambikā, shall become Daityas enjoying dominion. / But the sattvic, resting on sattvic devotion, attain divine status.

Thus has this sin-destroying māhātmya been told to you, O goddess, / accomplishing all desires, of the goddess who destroyed Bala and Atibala, / residing in the Prabhāsa sacred field, increasing fame, [told] in brief.

Thus ends the one hundred and nineteenth chapter, named 'The description of the māhātmya of the goddess who slew the Daityas Bala and Atibala', in the first [part], the Prabhāsa-kṣetra-māhātmya, in the seventh [section], Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.