2023-02-16 06:27:18 by ambuda-bot
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INTRODUCTION
15
headed by Indra and the latter by Mahisa The gods
were vanquished and Mahisa became supreme The
vanquished gods went to Visnu and Siva and told them
of their discomfiture When Visnu and Siva heard
their plaints they became very angry and there issued
from their mouths a great tejas And from the bodies of
the other gods also there went forth at the same time
great energies All these energies gathered together and
assumed a female form The gods were pleased and
each of them gave her a weapon or an ornament Accept-
ing these gifts, the goddess mounted the lion which
had been presented to her by Himavat and uttered a
loud roar as a challenge to the enemy The demonshcard
the roar and rushed to the place, headed by Mahisa Then
began a fierce battle between the gods and their enemies
"in which every region of the sky was illumined with
weapons, and arms were hurled in abundance". At
last the goddess, who had fortified herself with a cup
of wine, leapt on the Asura and kicked him on the neck
with her foot, struck him with her spear and cut off his
head with her sword This detail of the Devi kicking the
demon half dead with her foot important, for almost
the whole of Chandi sataka of Bana is based on it
Bana's poem is an ode more to the feet of the
goddess than to the goddess herself After Mahisa
was slain the gods and rists assembled together and
sang paeans of praise and thanksgiving for their
deliverance They asked a boon of the goddess that,
whenever they called on her for help in similar difficul-
tics, she should come to their rescue Be it so", said
the goddess and vanished from their sight
15
headed by Indra and the latter by Mahisa The gods
were vanquished and Mahisa became supreme The
vanquished gods went to Visnu and Siva and told them
of their discomfiture When Visnu and Siva heard
their plaints they became very angry and there issued
from their mouths a great tejas And from the bodies of
the other gods also there went forth at the same time
great energies All these energies gathered together and
assumed a female form The gods were pleased and
each of them gave her a weapon or an ornament Accept-
ing these gifts, the goddess mounted the lion which
had been presented to her by Himavat and uttered a
loud roar as a challenge to the enemy The demonshcard
the roar and rushed to the place, headed by Mahisa Then
began a fierce battle between the gods and their enemies
"in which every region of the sky was illumined with
weapons, and arms were hurled in abundance". At
last the goddess, who had fortified herself with a cup
of wine, leapt on the Asura and kicked him on the neck
with her foot, struck him with her spear and cut off his
head with her sword This detail of the Devi kicking the
demon half dead with her foot important, for almost
the whole of Chandi sataka of Bana is based on it
Bana's poem is an ode more to the feet of the
goddess than to the goddess herself After Mahisa
was slain the gods and rists assembled together and
sang paeans of praise and thanksgiving for their
deliverance They asked a boon of the goddess that,
whenever they called on her for help in similar difficul-
tics, she should come to their rescue Be it so", said
the goddess and vanished from their sight