Long ago in the past, two demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha came in boasting their power and took over the kingdom of all the three worlds from the hands of Indra and started to conduct the duties of all the gods like Sun, Moon, Agni Vayu etc. These demons drove the gods out of heaven. Then the gods remembered boon given by goddess Adishakti to them , that is , in the time of crisis goddess  Adishakti herself would appear and relieve them of distress. upon remembering that all the gods  went to the Himalayas and  started praying goddess Vishnumaya.

When the gods were in such a way praying  Adishakti on the Giriraj Himalayas, at the same time, Goddess Parvati was going from there on the banks of Ganga  to take  bath, she saw all the gods praying and asked, who are you praying here?  .  Just then a goddess appeared from her body and told Parvati Devi that these deities  persecuted by Shumbha and Nishumbha demons.  Praying  me only.  Due to her appearance  from the cells of Goddess Parvatis body, the name of this goddess became Kaushiki.  After Amba Bhavani Devi Kaushiki’s appearance from Parvati ji’s body, her color turned black and that’s why she became famous as Mahakali.

 Subsequently, seeing goddess kaushiki ,Shumbha and Nishumbha’s two brothers,  named Chand and  Mund,  said to Shumbha and Nishumbha that a very beautiful girl has appeared on the Himalayas.  Her look is very adorable and we have never seen such a beautiful woman till today.  She should be considered as a gem in womens.  You have all the opulence of all the gods.  You have also kept the aircraft of Brahma, you also have the wealth of Indra and all the wealth of Kubera, then you should try to make this woman your own , she is gem among womens.  You should make her your own.  Hearing these things from Chand and Mund, Shumbha and Nishumbha sent a messenger named Sugriva,  to the goddess.

This messenger went to the Himalayas where Kaushiki Devi was present and said to Goddess, Shumbha and Nishumbha have sent me as messenger to you.  They have all the wealth of the entire world, they handle all the duties of deities like Surya Chandra and Indra, etc., and want you to become the wife of whomever you like in Shumbha and Nishumbha.  Hearing the messenger’s words, the goddess smiled and started saying, it is true that Shumbha and Nishumbha are the most powerful in the world.  But I took a vow because of my ignorance, the vow is that whoever defeats me in battle, I will marry him.  If these two brothers want to marry me, then tell them to first defeat me in battle.  Later ,one of them can marry me.  On hearing this, the messenger said to the goddess, you are blabbing in vain, when the gods could not defeat Shumbha and Nishumbh, then how a  woman like you will  be able to defeat them.  Seeing that the goddess did not listen to him, he went back to Shumbha and Nishumbha and told them both what the goddess had said.

 Hearing the messenger’s words, Shumbha and Nishumbha got very angry. then they told their commander Dhumralochan , Dhumalochan if that women comes with you  as you say, it is okay otherwise, grab her hair and drag her and bring her here.  On getting permission from Shumbha and Nishumbha, Dhumalochan went to the Himalayas with his army and started fighting with the Goddess. The goddess killed all his army in a moment and killed the dhumralochan by merely saying the word hmm.

In this way the goddess ended the life of commander of Shumbha and Nishumbha named Dhumalochan.

Categories: Stories of Goddess Durga