Elements of Hindu Iconography v3.c19.156

v3.c19.156

The Kūrma-purāṇa continues further the story of the Mātṛkās. After the chastisement of the asura Andhaka, Śiva commanded Bhairava and the Mātṛkās to retire to the pātāla-lōka, the abode of the tāmasic and destructive Vishṇu Nṛisimha. They accordingly did so; but very soon Bhairava, being only an aṃśa or part of Śiva, became merged in Śiva, and the Mātṛikās were left alone without any means of subsistence. They began to destroy everything in the universe for the purpose of feeding themselves. Bhairava then prayed to Nṛisimha to abstract from the Mātṛikās their destructive nature, and it was thereupon withdrawn from them.