In the past, two Rakshasas named Shumbha and Nishumbha had seized the kingdom of Triloki from Devaraja Indra and drove all the gods out of heaven. Shumbha and Nishumbha started doing the work of all the Gods like Sun, Yama, Agni, Vayu, Kubera etc., then the deities remembered the boon given by Adishakti after the slaying of Mahishasura. Goddess gave us a boon that, after praying in the hour of crisis, I will appear myself and I will help you to overcome the crisis. Then all the gods went to the Himalayas and started praying Jagadamba the Mother of the universe, at the same time Goddess Parvati came there to take bath in river Ganga and asked the Gods , whom you are praying here. Then Kaushiki Devi came out of her body and said, “These deities, who are suffering due troubles to from Shumbha and Nishumbha, are praying me.”
Goddess got the name Kaushiki ( The one who appeared from the cells ) as she appeared from the body cells of Goddess Parvati. After that Goddess Parvati turned black and she became famous in the world by the name of Mahakali.
Shumbha and Nishumbha were told about presence of goddess on the Himalayas by their two friends Chand and Munde. Chand and Mund described the form and splendor of the goddess in front of Shumbha Nishumbha and said that they should try to keep this goddess with them. After hearing the words of chand -mund, Shumbha – Nishumbha sent a messenger named Sugriva to goddess with a proposal to marry any one of the brothers as per her wish . Devi on getting the message ,said that she has already taken a vow that whoever defeats her in battle , she will only marry him. Hearing this pledge of the goddess,from the mouth of their messenger sugriva Shumbha Nishumbha got very angry and sent their commander named Dhumalochan to the Himalayas to bring the goddess. The goddess killed that dhumralochan in battle. After that Goddess killed Chand -Mund and other demon named Raktabija were also killed in this war.
Seeing the destruction of all their army, both Shumbha and Nishumbh got very angry and both ran towards the battlefield to fight Goddess. Later a terrible war broke out between Devi and Shumbha, these two brothers started raining arrows on Devi, but Devi very easily cut all those arrows. After that there was a feirce fight between the Goddess and Nishumbha, two fought using weapons like Trishul, Sword, Chakra, Dhanush, etc. In a short time, Goddess injured him with arrows and he fell unconscious on ground. Shumbha saw his brother Nishumbh unconscious and went ahead to fight with the goddess and confronted the goddess. Devi’s lion roared loudly, due to which many demon soldiers fell on the earth in fear. Shumbha fired several weapons at the goddess, but the goddess cut all those weapons and hit Shumbja with a trident on his chest, causing him to faint on the earth.
Then, Nishumbh came to his senses and with a bow and arrow in his hand started to fight with Devi and he also injured Kali with his horn. After that, with all his ten thousand hands and he hit the goddess Chandika with the chakras and injured her. then Durga Devi, destroyer of armies and demons cut all those chakras with her arrows which nishumbha used on her. After that Nishumbha fought with Chandika with a trident but Chandika Devi cut that trident and pierced his chest with her trident. Now a man came out of his chest and stood in front of goddess , saying that he will fight. Devi cut his head with her sword and thus Nishumbhas life came to an end.
Seeing his brother Nishimbh killed in battle, Shumbha was very angry and he said, “Wicked Durga, you are feeling very proud.” You have come to the battle ground with all these goddesses and taking their help to fight us. Then the Goddess on hearing him said, “Foolish Shumbha, these are all my forms, I have taken the form of all these goddeses.” At the same time, all the goddesses merged in Mothe Durga’s body and only Durga Devi remained in the battlefield. After that fierce fight broke out between Shumbha and Durga Devi, seeing that all the gods and demons were surprised. Both of them would run towards each other’s with weapons and then again later start fighting with new weapons. After that, both Durga Devi and Shambhu went in the sky and started fighting there, then the goddess dropped him vigorously on the earth. Later he got up and started fighting with the goddess again. Similarly after fighting for a long time, the goddess ripped Shumbha’s chest with her trident and ended his life, all the gods were very pleased.
In this way, the enemies of the gods Shumbha and Nishumbha were killed by Adishakti Bhagwati Durga.
Categories: Stories of Goddess Durga
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