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THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
opsis of this account is as follows. Once, during a conflict be-
tween the gods and demons, Indra and the gods were vanquished
and driven from heaven by the buffalo-demon Mahişa. Appeal
for help was made to Viṣṇu and Siva. As these two divinities
listened to the tale of the defeat of their fellow-immortals, a great
energy, full of intense anger, issued from their faces. This
energy, amalgamating with the energies that proceeded from the
bodies of the rest of the gods, became incarnate as the goddess
Candi ('Angry One'). She was hailed by the gods as their
champion against Mahișa, and weapons and gifts were showered
upon her. Siva gave her his trident; Kṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu), his discus;
Agni, a spear; the Maruts, a bow and arrows; Indra, the thunder-
bolt; Yama, a staff; Varuna, a noose; Kāla, a sword; Himavat,
her father, a lion to ride on; and Viśvakarman, an ax and many
jewels, including armlets and anklets. Candi, thus equipped,
uttered a loud shout, and rushed forth to give battle to the army
of the demons. Her thousand arms were kept busy hurling
weapons, and immense numbers of the demons were slain. At
length came the duel with Mahişa himself. The struggle was
prolonged. In the form of a buffalo (mahişa), the demon bit,
kicked and gored to death hundreds of the celestials immediately
surrounding Caṇḍī, or lashed them with his tail, bellowing loudly
meanwhile. Then, as he caught sight of the lion of the goddess,
he pawed the ground, and tossed huge mountains. When he had
approached within range of the goddess, and she had succeeded
in entangling him with her noose, he on the instant turned him-
self into a lion, and the fight began anew. After a further ex-
change of blows, and as Caṇḍi was severing his head from his
body, he became a man, then an elephant, and finally was meta-
morphosed into his original shape that of a buffalo-and began
to toss hills and mountains at Candi with his horns. The god-
dess, pausing only long enough to drink some intoxicating liquor,
1 See the translation of the Markandeya Purana by F. Eden Pargiter,
in the Bibliotheca Indica Series of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, chapters
82-84. Cf. also Ludovicus Poley, Devimahatmyam (Sanskrit text and
Latin translation), Berlin, 1831.
THE CANDIŚATAKA OF BĀŅA
opsis of this account is as follows. Once, during a conflict be-
tween the gods and demons, Indra and the gods were vanquished
and driven from heaven by the buffalo-demon Mahişa. Appeal
for help was made to Viṣṇu and Siva. As these two divinities
listened to the tale of the defeat of their fellow-immortals, a great
energy, full of intense anger, issued from their faces. This
energy, amalgamating with the energies that proceeded from the
bodies of the rest of the gods, became incarnate as the goddess
Candi ('Angry One'). She was hailed by the gods as their
champion against Mahișa, and weapons and gifts were showered
upon her. Siva gave her his trident; Kṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu), his discus;
Agni, a spear; the Maruts, a bow and arrows; Indra, the thunder-
bolt; Yama, a staff; Varuna, a noose; Kāla, a sword; Himavat,
her father, a lion to ride on; and Viśvakarman, an ax and many
jewels, including armlets and anklets. Candi, thus equipped,
uttered a loud shout, and rushed forth to give battle to the army
of the demons. Her thousand arms were kept busy hurling
weapons, and immense numbers of the demons were slain. At
length came the duel with Mahişa himself. The struggle was
prolonged. In the form of a buffalo (mahişa), the demon bit,
kicked and gored to death hundreds of the celestials immediately
surrounding Caṇḍī, or lashed them with his tail, bellowing loudly
meanwhile. Then, as he caught sight of the lion of the goddess,
he pawed the ground, and tossed huge mountains. When he had
approached within range of the goddess, and she had succeeded
in entangling him with her noose, he on the instant turned him-
self into a lion, and the fight began anew. After a further ex-
change of blows, and as Caṇḍi was severing his head from his
body, he became a man, then an elephant, and finally was meta-
morphosed into his original shape that of a buffalo-and began
to toss hills and mountains at Candi with his horns. The god-
dess, pausing only long enough to drink some intoxicating liquor,
1 See the translation of the Markandeya Purana by F. Eden Pargiter,
in the Bibliotheca Indica Series of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, chapters
82-84. Cf. also Ludovicus Poley, Devimahatmyam (Sanskrit text and
Latin translation), Berlin, 1831.