One Song to Rule Them All

A battle of the bands took place near the base of Mount Kailash. It was far enough away to not disturb Lord Shiva, God of Destruction, who sat at its peak. Every so many years, musicians and bands dueled against each other here over a series of rounds until one individual or group remained. Whoever won earned the title of Greatest Musician/Band in the Universe, at least until the next competition. Due to the deadly nature of this contest, participants and other attendees had to sign a waiver that stated any death, destruction, or wrath of Shiva imposed on them was not the fault or responsibility of the contest’s hosts. No one wanted to deal with cosmic or legal retribution.

The Devis of the Vedic Age were part of the competition this year, and they had made it to the final round. Now they sat backstage as they prepared for their final battle. Saraswati tuned her veena. Lakshmi practiced some breathing exercises. Durga stretched her many arms as she tuned and set up her many instruments. A low, chattering roar rumbled from the audience beyond the curtains. Finally, gandharva stagehands came to direct them out to the stage. The announcer walked out from behind the curtains to address the audience.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, devis and devas, are you all having a good time out there?” The crowd roared. “Ooh, yeah, then I hope you are ready for our final battle tonight! On one side, we have the asuras Chanda, Munda, Sumbha, Nisumbha, and Raktabija of Black Yagna!” The crowd roared again. “On the other side, we have the Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati of Devis of the Vedic Age!” The crowd thundered and whistled. “Also, uh, before we begin, if you have not already, please make sure you sign our waiver. Remember, everyone, this is a battle to the death. These people are going back and forth until only one band is left standing. Cool? Alright, Devis, start us off!”

The sound of sprinkling rain echoed in the arena. Durga tapped and pounded away on her tabla and other drums. Saraswati shredded on her veena. Lakshmi sang this time; her voice, a mixture of the male and the female voice for this song, melismatically echoed through the mountains. Durga overall stole the show. When they finished their song, the crowd thundered and whistled once more. The asuras, shaken, took a defensive stance. Raktabija bared his teeth. He counted off the asuras.

The asuras countered with a passion. Sumbha tore away at tabla. Nisumbha pounded a damaru. Chanda made a flute sing while Munda quietly strummed a guitar. Raktabija sang. As he did, Raktabija did something strange. He stared directly at the Goddesses, brought his hand up to his mouth, and tore into it with his teeth. He swung his hand downward to flick the blood onto the ground. From those droplets spawned many clones of Raktabija. They took up more instruments, and some even sang with the original Raktabija, all of which added a surreal echo and power to their performance.

“Oooh, baby, these guys literally are conquering the stage!”

The Devis stood their ground. Durga felt a strong energy on her forehead. Unable to concentrate to contain it, she released the energy. From her forehead and onto the stage manifested another form of Durga with a lolling tongue and a face like Gene Simmons from KISS. “Awoo! Looks like the Devis have brought some backup of their own. Everyone, let’s hear it for our guest appearance from Kali!” The crowd cheered.

Kali turned to Saraswati. “I can stop these demons from spawning. I am willing to lick up the blood to prevent any more from manifesting. But I am in need of the weapons and knowledge of music to do so. Will you help me so that I may help you?” Saraswati nodded. She snapped her fingers. She gave a damaru to Kali and changed the arsenal of the other Goddesses. Saraswati now also had a guitar. Lakshmi now had a violin. Durga acquired more drums. They started their counterattack.

Kali began to beat on her drum. Her primal power caused the voices of the drums to manifest and speak as if they were living beings. The Devis played alongside her. Kali danced and wound her way among the throng of demons. She flicked her tongue to keep the blood from touching the ground. Meanwhile, the Goddesses mixed the sound “hum” through their song and targeted it at the copies of Raktabija, which turned each one into a pile of smoldering ash. With each one, the audience gasped and then cheered. Finally, they destroyed all of the clones, and only the original five asuras remained. The Devis built up for one last blast of musical power, and they blew the demons out of the arena. The crowd went wild.

“Woo! Alright, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like that’s that! I am excited to announce that the Greatest Band in the Universe is-”

“Hold it! You have one last contender!” boomed a voice from above. A dark, large figure leapt down from a cliff above them onto the stage and did a superhero-landing. He directed the gazes of his ten heads towards Saraswati and pointed at her. “Saraswati, your time has come! Now we will finally see who truly is the Greatest Musician in the Universe!”

It was Ravana.

Author’s Note. This story is kind of based off the story of Durga (sometimes known as Ambika) fighting Raktabija. In that story, Durga was sent to fight him and his armies who had taken over heaven once again. Raktabija had a boon where any drop of his blood that hit the ground would become one of his clones. Before facing him, Durga fought Chanda and Munda. When they attacked her, her rage manifested the goddess Kali, a more destructive and primal version of Durga, from her forehead who slayed the two demons. Later, when Durga did face Raktabija, Kali lapped up any and all blood so that no more clones could be created. Depending on the story, Kali or Durga then beheads Raktabija. Sumbha and Nisumbha are also asuras, but they are related to a different story about Durga similar to the first story in this storybook. I incorporated the blood boon, but I made it to where Raktabija inflicted wounds on himself as a defensive/offensive move. There is strength in numbers; if one fell, there were more to replace him.

This time I wanted the music with more of a focus on drums. Since Kali is a primal force and drums are kind of a primal instrument, I thought those two would match well for each other. Note that it was kind of an accident that all of the songs included were by Bickram Ghosh. The mention of using “hum” to turn the asuras to ash was an inspiration from a scene in one of the Amar Chitra Katha Comics (mentioned in Bibliography) I read not long before I started working on this. The band name Black Yagna, for those who did not catch it, is a play on the band Black Sabbath. While a yagna and a sabbath are two completely different things, yagna was the closest word I could think of to make this funny little parallel.

Bibliography. "Tales of Durga: Tales of the Mother Goddess (Volume 514)" from Amar Chitra Katha, link to Reading Guide.

Kali, link to Wikipedia page.

Raktabija, link to Wikipedia page.

Chanda and Munda, link to Wikipedia page.

Sumbha and Nisumbha, link to Wikipedia page.

Video: "Bikram Ghosh - Rain" from Mefix - Tofel Radio on YouTube.

Video: "Tandav" from Bickram Ghosh - Topic on YouTube.

Video: "Bikram Ghosh - Rythmn Speaks" from VIOLONISTUL on YouTube.

Image: Ambika (Durga) leading Eight Mother Goddesses in battle against Raktabija. Web Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Image: A shadowed Ravana doing a superhero landing, drawn by me using Microsoft Paint (September 9, 2017).