Goddess Durga VS Mahisasur
Rambha, the king of asuras, and Princess Shyamala, a demon cursed to be a buffalo, fell in love. Their son was named Mahishasura. Mahisha meaning "buffalo" and asura meaning "demon", translating to "buffalo demon".
Mahishasura possessed the ability to change forms at will, a power he used later to battle the devas.
But the devas chased him away every time.
He had a desire to rule everyone, not just demons. He did a severe penance and asked a boon from Lord Brahma. He asked the boon of immortality. When Brahma said no, the sly Mahishasura asked for a boon that would prevent any male – God, human or demon – from killing him. He believed no woman could now convinced that he is immortal — after getting this boon, Mahishasura started misusing that boon, as expected. He killed many innocent men, children and mainly women. Mahishasur then started a war with Devtas.
Mahishasura’s asur army defeated Indra Dev’s Army. As a result, he captured Devlok (Swarg or realm of gods). He stopped the worship of deities and said, “only i shall be worshipped!”. Devtas went to Kailash for help. They requested Lord Shiva to kill Mahishasura.
But because of the boon, only someone who isn't God or Human could kill the Asura, they all decided to summon Adi parashakti — the primordial mother — who is formless. A divine Yagya (fire ritual) commenced where with the help of Devi Yantra, power of divine mother was invoked and she manifested physically.
Hence she's चिदग्निकुण्डसम्भूता - She who was born in the fire-pit of Pure Consciousness देवकार्यसमुद्यता - She who is intent on helping the gods.
She had 10 hands, each with weapons from the gods who participated in the Yagya.
A trident from Lord Shiva. A sword from Lord Ganesh. A spear from Lord of Fire, Agni Dev. Axe(or Parshu) from Lord Vishwakarma, the divine architect. Bow and Arrow from Vayu Dev, the lord of air. Lotus, a gift from Lord Brahma, the mighty Sudarshan Chakra from Lord Vishnu. Sankah from Varun dev. Thunderbolt, or Vajra and a snake. You can read more about their meaning and what these weapons symbolise here.
The vahana or vehicle of Goddess Durga lion it represents strength, fearlessness, protection and courage. Hence symbolising the fierce side of Maa Durga, it could alsorepresent “Dharma”. It is mentioned in several texts that the Dharma is “Swayam-eva-mrigendrataa” (Dharma is like a lion by itself). The lion represents power, will and determination. Mother Durga riding the lion symbolises her mastery over all these qualities.
When Goddess Durga marched to battle. Mahishasura was quite sure that a woman could never defeat him and promptly proposed marriage. Obviously, she refused, her cool rejection led to battle and in the end. Goddess Durga then fought Mahishasura over a period of 10 days during which he kept changing his shape to become different animals and misled her. Finally when he transformed into a buffalo, Goddess Durga stabbed him with her trident and that was the end of him. the goddess effortlessly pierced him with a trident, decapitated him, and sent his army scurrying.
Hence, she acquired the name
Mahisasurmardini= Mahisasur + Mardini (slayer).
Adi Shankaracharya has written Mahisasurmardini Strotam as an attempt to capture Goddess’ bravery and ferociousness in battlefields as well as her sweet nature as the primordial mother.
↑ the video here is really good, it's in Hindi with Good English Subtitles.
