THE DEMONS- CHANDA AND MUNDA
Once,
the demon brothers, Chand and Mund were passing near the Vindhya Mountain when
they saw Goddess Chandika there. Both these demons were stunned by her divine
beauty. They had never seen such a beautiful woman in their life. They went to
Mahishasura and told him about her beauty.
Mahishasura
proceeded with a huge army, which comprised of valiant commanders like
Vidaalnetra, Vishang, Vaayakal, Agraayudh, Chikshur, Raktabeej etc. The army
assembled at the foothills of Vindhya Mountain. There, Mahishasura instructed
Dundubhi to go and bring Goddess Durga by any means.
Dundubhi
went to Goddess Durga and boasted about Mahishasura's might and power by
saying- "The mighty Mahishasura has defeated all the deities who ran out
from heaven to save their lives. He is lord of all the three worlds and is
invincible but this victorious and mighty king has been enslaved by your
beauty. You must not miss this chance of marrying him."
Goddess
Durga replied- "I am aware of Mahishasura's feats. I am most willing to
marry him. But there is one problem. There is a tradition in our clan according
to which an aspiring husband is required to give a Shulk (tax) in lieu of
getting married." Dundubhi was happy thinking that it would not be difficult
for Mahishasura to fulfil her demand. He said- "Mahishasura can even give
up his life for your sake."
Hearing
this, Goddess Durga laughed loudly and said- "O demon! According to the
tradition of our clan, only such a person can marry a woman who defeats her in
the battle." Dundubhi went back to Mahishasura and narrated the whole
story. Mahishasura instructed Chikshur to go and bring Goddess Durga after
enslaving her. Chikshur proceeded with a huge army. Seeing him coming in the
direction of Goddess Durga, Lord Brahma instructed her to use an armour to
protect herself. The Goddess refused by saying- "No demon can stand before
me in a battle."
All
the deities then chanted Vishnupanjar Stotra for her safety. Protected by the
Stotra, she was successful in killing many demons. Seeing his devastated army,
Mahishasura himself came to fight her.
KILLING OF MAHISHASURA
Narad
asked sage Pulastya as to how Goddess Durga kill Mahishasura. Sage Pulastya
replied- "After the killing of Chikshur, Mahishasura sent Namar to fight
Goddess Durga. Namar proceeded towards the Vindhya Mountain accompanied by a
huge battalion. After reaching there, he shot a volley of arrows towards the
Vindhya Mountain. As a result, the whole mountain was covered by innumerable
arrows. This defiant act of Namar made Goddess Durga extremely furious. She
attacked her enemies menacingly. She killed some of the demons by her sword,
some with her mace and many more were killed by her arrows. Even her mount-
Simha killed many demons. The demons were completely surprised by the
ferociousness of the attack and fled from the battlefield.
Seeing
his whole army fleeing from the battlefield, Namar came forward, mounted on an
elephant to fight Goddess Durga. He unleashed his devastating weapon- Shakti
towards her. At the same time, he also attacked her mount- Simha (lion) by
releasing many arrows towards it. But Goddess Durga destroyed all the weapons.
In the meantime, the elephant held the Simha with its trunk but the Goddess's
mount somehow released itself from the trap and attacked Namar. Namar fell from
the elephant and died.
After
Namar's death, Chikshur came to fight the Goddess but both his hands and legs
were severed by her. Ultimately, Goddess Durga severed his head as a result of
which, Chikshur died. The news of Chikshur's death spread like a wildfire. Many
more valiant commanders of Mahishasura's army came forward to fight her but all
of them were vanquished.
At
last, Mahishasura came forward to fight Goddess Durga in the guise of a
buffalo. Goddess Durga started playing her damru (small drum) and Veena, which
resulted into the emergence of numerous ghosts. He attacked the ghosts with his
horns, four legs and by violently lashing his tail. He then attacked Durga's
mount- Simha and his violent movements shook even the earth and the mountain.
Goddess Durga grabbed his neck with the help of a noose. The next moment,
Mahishasura transformed his appearance into an elephant. Goddess Durga then
severed his trunk. Mahishasura again changed his guise into a buffalo. Goddess
Durga attacked him by unleashing various weapons but the demon escaped unhurt.
Goddess
Durga suddenly jumped down from her mount- Simha and climbed upon Mahishasura,
who was in the guise of a buffalo. Mahishasura started jumping violently.
Goddess Durga pressed Mahishasura's back with such force that he suffocated.
She then severed his head. Suddenly, Mahishasura appeared in human form with a
sword. Goddess Durga kicked him on his chest and again severed his head. The news
of his death created havoc in his army and the demons fled from the battlefield
and hid themselves in Paatal loka.
The
deities became pleased at Mahishasura's death and eulogised Goddess Durga. She
became pleased and after assuring the deities of taking re-incarnation for
their welfare, disappeared from the scene.
RE-INCARNATION OF GODDESS DURGA
Revealing
the reasons for Goddess Durga's re-incarnation, sage Pulastya says-
"Goddess Durga is also known as Kaushiki as she had manifested from the
cell (Koshika) of Uma's (Parvati's) body. After the manifestation, she went to
Vindhya Mountain with the objective of killing the demons- Shumbh and Nishumbh.
She was accompanied by numerous Bhoot ganas (spirits).
After
Sati's death, Rudra engaged himself in penance and became a celibate. He had
even relinquished his responsibility of leading the deities' army. When
Mahishasura came to know that the deities were bereft of their commander, he
attacked them as a result of which, the deities were defeated. The deities went
to Lord Vishnu who was at that time living at Shwetdweep. When they reached
there, they were surprised to find that Lord Vishnu was aware of their defeat.
Lord Vishnu then advised them by saying- "All of you must go to Mena-
Maanasputri of Agnishwat and request her to give consent to marry Himalaya. The
same Mena would give birth to a beautiful girl who in reality would be the
re-incarnation of Sati. All of you must go to Kurukshetra and eulogise her on
the night of Amavasya."
The
deities were curious to know about the origin of Kurukshetra. Lord Vishnu told
them- "During the initial phase of Satya Yuga, there was a mighty king
named Riksh, who was the descendant of Soma. Samvaran was the son of Riksh. He
succeeded his father at a young age. Samvaran was a great devotee of mine.
Vashishth- the son of Varun was his chief priest and had taught him all the
Vedas. One day, Samvaran went to the forest for hunting after entrusting his
responsibilities to Vashishth. After reaching the forest, he started wandering
in search of his game. He saw a beautiful lake full of numerous lotus flowers.
He also saw many Apsaras and other divine beauties enjoying themselves by
singing and dancing. Samvaran was infatuated by the divine beauty of one of
those Apsaras- Tapti, who was the most beautiful among them. Coincidentally,
Tapti too saw Samvaran staring at her. She was so infatuated by Samvaran's
handsomeness that she fell unconscious. She was carried by her companions back
home.
After
returning to his capital, Vashishth was surprised to find change in Samvaran's
behaviour. It seemed as if his mind was pre-occupied by something. By his Yogic
power, Vashishth came to know about the whole incident. He decided to take the
help of Tapti's father- Surya. He went to Surya and requested him to marry
Tapti with Samvaran. Surya did not want to annoy his esteemed guest, so he gave
his consent. Vashishth then returned to his hermitage accompanied by Tapti and
ultimately Tapti and Samvaran got married.
THE TALES OF KING KURU AND KURUKSHETRA
In
course of time, Tapti gave birth to a son, who possessed all the signs of
royalty. After growing up, he mastered all the four Vedas and other scriptures
within a very short period. At the raw age of 24, he became a scholar. When he
attained marriageable age, he was married to Saudamini- the daughter of Sudama.
Later on, he was appointed as the successor by his father, Samvaran.
After
becoming the king, Kuru ruled his subjects in a just manner but very soon he
got bored of his monotonous life. He knew that only those kings became immortal
who accomplished amazing feats. He decided to do something for which people
would remember him. With the objective of making his name immortal, he went to
the most sacred place called Samantpanchak and decided to cultivate the eight
virtues - Tapa, Satya, Kshama, Daya, Shauch, Daan, Yuga and Brahmacharya on its
barren land. He started ploughing a piece of land with a golden plough, which
was pulled by Lord Shankar's bull and Yamaraj's buffalo named Paundrak.
While
he was busy ploughing the field, Indra approached him and asked suspiciously as
to what he was trying to cultivate. When Kuru revealed his intentions, Indra
made fun of him and went back. But Kuru was not worried and continued to
cultivate the land. In a very short time, he had already cultivated the land
measuring 7 kosas. One day, Lord Vishnu arrived and asked the same question,
which Indra had asked. When Kuru revealed his intentions, Lord Vishnu was
surprised and wondered as to from where he would get the seeds to grow these
things. Kuru told him that all these eight virtues were present in his own body
and it would not be a difficult task to cultivate these things. Lord Vishnu
wanted to test his commitment and sincerity and said- "Give the seeds to
me. I would sow the seeds while you should plough the field."
Kuru
outstretched his right hand but Lord Vishnu cut it into thousands of pieces
with his chakra. All the pieces were distributed among the deities but Kuru was
unfazed and again stretched his left hand towards Lord Vishnu. But his left
hand too met the same fate. In this way, the most generous and benevolent King
Kuru offered all his organs to Lord Vishnu. But all the organs were severed by
Lord Vishnu. At last, Kuru offered his head as he had nothing else to offer.
Lord Vishnu was pleased by his generosity and asked him to demand anything.
Kuru replied- "All the area cultivated by me should become famous as a
sacred pilgrimage. All the devotees who visit or die at this sacred pilgrimage
must attain salvation. This place should be known by my name."
This
is how the most sacred place of pilgrimage- Kurukshetra came into existence.
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