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Chapter 10: Killing of Shumbha
The sage told:-
Seeing that his solu like brother was killed as also his army, Shumbha became very angry and told.
Hey
Durga, Hey bad lady, you should not be proud of your strength for You
have fought this war with the help of others and are depending on their
strength.
The goddess told:-
In this world, I only am and where is the second. Please see that all these people enter within me.
Afterwards all the goddesses like Brahmani became one with the body of goddess Chandika and the goddess became alone.
The goddess told:-
In this battlefield I assumed many forms due to my innate power and now
the plurality has become singularity and now stand here firmly and
fight with me.
The sage told:-
Afterwards in the presence of all the devas and asuras, a terrible war took place between the two (Shumbha and the Goddess).
A
very fearful and terrible war took place between them in which sharp
arrows were rained and using other weapons and horrifyingly great arrows
Afterwards
when the goddess sent several divine arrows in batches of hundreds,
Shumbha destroyed them using arrows, which were capable of destroying
them.
That Goddess Chandika cut the divine arrows sent by Shumbha by her deep breath (Hum) and also playfully.
Then
that Shumbha covered the Goddess with hundreds of arrows and becoming
angry due to this, she cut off his bow using her arrows.
When his bow was broken, That Shumbha took in his hand a spear and the goddess cut it with her holy wheel.
Then
that chief of chiefs of Asuras, Shumbha took a sword and a shield,
which shined like hundred moons and sun and ran towards the goddess.
Goddess Chandika while he was coming cut off his sword and shield which were reflecting the sun, with arrows sent from her bow.
Then
that Asura, whose horses were killed, whose bow was broken and whose
chariot driver was killed took a horrifying mace to kill the goddess.
She
cut off the mace of Shumbha who was nearing her with sharp arrows. In
spite of that he ran towards the goddess with extended fist.
That chief of asuras hit the goddess with his fist on her forehead and she slapped him with her palm on his chest.
That king of asuras fell on the ground due to her slap but recovered and got up fast.
That
Shumbha jumped caught hold of the goddess and placed her high in the
sky but Chandika stayed there without any support and fought with him.
Then that Asura and goddess Chandika first fought with bare hands on the sky, making the sages aghast.
After fighting war with bare hands for long time, that goddess lifted him and threw him on the ground.
Thus thrown that Asura reached the earth, recovered fast and with a wish to kill the goddess ran towards her with clenched fist.
Afterwards
that goddess felled him who was the king of all asuras, by tearing his
chest with a trident and made him fall on the ground.
That
Shumbha torn by the trident of the goddess fell dead on the ground
shaking the entire earth with its oceans, islands and mountains.
When the bad one was killed, the entire universe became happy, the world became calmer and the sky became clearer
Those
clouds, which were comet shaped before Shumbha died, became calm and
also all the rivers started flowing in the right direction.
Because of his killing, the mind of all the groups of devas was filled with happiness. Gandharwas sang prettily.
Similarly
another group of devas played musical instruments, apsaras (celestial
dancers) danced in-groups, holy wind blew and the sun shone brightly.
The fire burnt calmly and the sounds in the different directions also became calm.
This
is the tenth chapter in Devi Mahatmya dealing with the killing of
Shumbha Occurring in the Savarnika period of Markandeya Purana.
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