Durga and Mahishasura

The Devis of the Vedic Age had a gig in Amaravathi, the heavenly city of Indra. The city was like a never ending music festival for the three hundred thirty million celestial beings that lived there. Only the most divine and elite of musicians could hope for a spot in the infinite line-up. Finally, the Devis’ day had come when they had received an invite from Lord Indra himself.

Upon entering the city, however, they were surprised to find it much quieter than the city was usually known. Music could still be heard but only from sparse areas, and it definitely was not of the city’s famed quality. In fact, the streets and gardens were mostly empty save for the occasional buffalo-headed asura and rakshasa. What were these beings doing here? Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati were confused and concerned. Before they fully could assess the situation, they were greeted by an uncomfortable-looking gandharva musician and led away to a garden stage where they would perform.

The trio performed many songs during their show, yet their audience was few, made up of some gandharvas and these out-of-place rakshasas and asuras. There was one particular asura in the audience. He had the head of a buffalo exactly like many of the others seen around the city, but he had a misogynistic vibe about him such that one could expect him to tip a fedora and say “m’lady.” In fact, he was wearing a fedora. The Devis of the Vedic Age’s music filled him with euphoria. His eyes drifted and finally locked onto the beautiful Parvati on her drums. The asura was overcome with a great lust and decided he would approach her after the show to make her his.

The trio finished their set and went backstage. From the crowd of gandharva stagehands came a distressed Lord Indra. “Oh, by all of creation, thank the stars that you all are here,” the chief of gods cried.

They looked at him in surprise; it was shocking to see a deva of such stature to be reduced to his current state. “Lord Indra, why are you so disheveled? Is it something to do with these rakshasas and asuras milling about your splendid city?” asked Saraswati.

Indra broke down. “Yes, it is! An asura named Mahishasura took over the city with his company of asuras. With his numerous music groups and great wealth, there was nothing us devas could do to stop him from ousting us all!”

“But how could mere asuras manage this? It makes no sense.”

“Ah, yes, well,” Indra mumbled, “your dear husband, Lord Brahma, apparently gave a boon to him where only a woman would be able to take him down, for this asura believes this is still equivalent to the immortality Brahma could not grant him.”

“I see,” Saraswati responded with a strained smile. “I will have to discuss this with him whenever I next see him…”

“I’m sure you have seen many buffalo-headed demons around the city, but beware, for those are only Mahishasura’s clones. The real one wears a fedora. Please, great Devis, you must help us!” At that, Indra fled.

Not a moment later, Mahishasura sidled up to Parvati. “Great show out there, m’ladies,” he boomed. “And I especially liked you, my dear.” He looked directly at Parvati. “How would you like to come with me? I own this city; I could give you whatever your heart desires.” Parvati was uncomfortable. She quietly refused all of his advances. “Okay, listen, sweetheart,” he snapped, “if you aren’t going to be grateful enough to take what I offer you willingly, then I’m going to have to take you by force.” As he tried to seize her, she let out a scream with a flash of light as bright as Surya.

There stood where Parvati had been standing the great eighteen-armed goddess, Durga. Mahishasura was even more smitten with this version of Parvati. “You just have to make it difficult. Fine. I challenge you all to a music battle, and when I win, you must submit and be mine! Bashkala! Durmukha! Asiloma! Sikshura! To me!” Without a delay, he summoned his band of his best musicians and began playing:

The devis stared in wonder at the strange instruments, a western flute and bass, among their traditional ones: a sitar, a tabla, and a mridangam. Durga was miffed. “These fools think they can defeat us with their foreign instruments. Saraswati, I hate to steal your spotlight, but please, allow me the power to defeat them. Only a rage and need to protect the weak can unleash this form from my gentle self. I cannot allow them to continue bullying the devas and harassing our fellow women.” Saraswati conceded. She summoned forth instruments like those of the rakshasas and more, and she granted Durga the knowledge to play them. “Thank you. Now if you and Lakshmi could do me the honor, please help back me up as I rip into these asuras with these tasty riffs!”

The goddesses filled the city with the energy of their music. Saraswati played her veena, and Lakshmi played her conch (which here emanated a sound like a saxophone). All the while, Durga was tearing through licks with her tasty jams. Her eighteen arms flicked and waved as she played the tabla, violin, bass, piano, and drum kit. Mahishasura was immobilized by their prowess. He fell to the ground as he begged for forgiveness. Durga threw a drumstick at him that caught his fedora and pinned it to a pillar. She demanded that he relinquish control of Amaravati back to Indra and the devas. He did so, and he scrambled away with his rakshasas and asuras back from whence they came, never to return. Such was the end of Mahishasura.

Author’s Note. This section is based on the story of Durga and the demon Mahishasura. Durga is the protective motherly form of the gentle Parvati equipped with all of the best physical qualities of the gods and copies of their greatest weapons. She is also the wife and counterpart of Shiva, god of destruction. In the story, Mahishasura prayed to Brahma to obtain immortality, which Brahma did not have the power to grant. Brahma then asked for what he thought was equivalent, which Mahishasura thought was invulnerability against all but women, and was granted such. He then used this to wage war against the devas and take over the city of Amaravati with the help of his thousands of clones and asura army. In response, the gods came together and combined their power to create a woman who could defeat him: Durga.

Mahishasura’s boon, for whatever reason, made me think of the stereotype of the kind of guys who wear fedoras, and I thought the image of that was funny. With how I chose this universe to work, battles are not fought with violence but with music. Here Mahishasura took over kind of like a big music label with lots of money and not that great bands, which forced everyone either into obscurity or to conform to their standards. Instead of being created by the gods in this story, Durga appeared because of her sense of purpose: to protect herself and others. And to keep with the theme, Mahishasura released his control over the city and disappeared instead of having his head cut off.

Bibliography.

“Durga and Mahishasura” by ApamNapat, from Devi Bhagavata. Web Source: Indian Mythology.

Mahishasura, link to Wikipedia page.

Image: Mother Durga and other deities. Web Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Image: Poorly made image of a buffalo with a human head wearing a fedora, made by me.

• Black and white water buffalo on transparent background. Web Source: Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay.
• The Gangster. Web Source: david pacey on Flickr.

Video: "Indian Classical Fusion Band @ Raddison Koshambi....". Web Source: Dreamzproductions123 on YouTube.

Video: "Fusion Music - Flute, Sitar, Guitar, Ghatam & Tabla". Web Source: Geethanjali - Music and Chants on YouTube.

Video: "Jalshaghar - Shiva - Indian Classical jazz world fusion". Web Source: Manosh Bardhan on YouTube.