also referred to as ‘Durga Saptashati’, ‘Chandi Path’, ‘Chandi’, ‘Devi Mahatmyam’
2.1 OṀ hrīṁ. The seer said:
2.2 “Long ago, when Mahiṣa was chief of the asuras and Indra was chief of the gods, there was a war between their forces for a full hundred years.
2.3 The valorous asuras vanquished the army of the gods, and after all were conquered, Mahiṣa became the lord of heaven.
2.4 Then led by Brahmā, the lord of beings, the defeated gods went to Viṣṇu and Śiva
2.5 and related in detail what had happened. The thirty gods told how Mahiṣāsura had wrought their defeat:
2.6 ‘He has usurped the authority of Sūrya, Indra, Agni, Vāyu, and Candra, and of Yama, Varuṇa, and all the others.
2.7 Cast out from heaven by the evil Mahiṣa, all the multitudes of gods wander over the earth as mere mortals.
2.8 We have related all that this foe of the gods has done, and we seek refuge in You. Be pleased to devise a means for his destruction.’
2.9 When Viṣṇu and Śiva heard the entreaties of the gods, they knit their brows in fury and contorted their faces,
2.10 whereupon a great radiance came forth from Viṣṇu’s rage- filled countenance, and so, too, from Brahmā’s and Śiva’s.
2.11 And from Indra’s body and from the bodies of all the other gods, a very great light issued, and it united and became one.
2.12 The gods saw before them a peak of light like a mountain, blazing brightly and pervading the sky in every direction with its flames.
2.13 Unequaled light, born from the bodies of all the gods, coalesced into a female form and pervaded the three worlds with its splendor.
2.14 From Śiva’s light came that which formed the Devī’s face. Yama’s radiance formed Her hair, and Viṣṇu’s effulgence became Her arms.
2.15 The moon god’s soft light formed Her breasts, and Indra’s brilliance became Her waist. Varuṇa’s light became Her legs, and earth’s splendor formed Her hips.
2.16 Her feet took shape from Brahmā’s light and Her toes from Sürya’s brilliance. From the Vasus’ light Her fingers formed and from Kubera’s light, Her nose.
2.17 From Prajāpati’s lustre came Her teeth, and from Agni’s radiance Her three eyes were born.
2.18 Dawn and dusk became Her eyebrows, the wind god’s splendor shaped Her ears, and all else born of the other gods’ light shone too as the auspicious Devī.
2.19 Then, beholding Her who appeared from out of their amassed light, all those gods, tormented by Mahiṣa, rejoiced.
2.20 Then the gods bestowed on Her their own weapons and adornments. From his trident Śiva drew forth another and gave it to Her,
2.21 and Viṣṇu bestowed a discus spun out from his own. Varuṇa gave Her a conch; and Agni, the eater of oblations, gave Her a spear.
2.22 Vāyu, the wind god, presented a bow and two quivers filled with arrows. Extracting a thunderbolt from his own, Indra, the lord of the immortals,
2.23 the all-seeing one, gave it to Her along with a bell from his elephant Airāvata. From his staff of death Yama produced another staff, and Varuṇa, the lord of waters, gave a noose.
2.24 Brahmā, the lord of beings, gave prayer beads and an ascetic’s waterpot. Sūrya, the bringer of day, bestowed his rays of sunlight on all the pores of Her skin;
2.25 and Kāla, the lord of time, presented a sword and shining shield. The ocean of milk bestowed a necklace of flawless pearls, ever-new garments,
2.26 a celestial crest-jewel, earrings, and bracelets, a radiant crescent-shaped ornament, armlets for all Her arms,
2.27 a pair of shining anklets, a necklace beyond compare, and bejeweled rings for all Her fingers.
2.28 Viśvakarman gave Her a gleaming ax, weapons of all kinds, and impenetrable armor.
2.29 Garlands of unfading lotuses for Her head and breast the ocean gave to Her, and yet another magnificent lotus to grace Her hand.
2.30 Himālaya, the lord of mountains, gave Her a lion to ride upon and jewels of many kinds; and Kubera, the lord of wealth, presented a drinking vessel ever-brimming with wine.
2.31 Śeṣa, the lord of serpents, who supports this earth, gave Her a garland of snakes, adorned with precious gems.
2.32 Honored also by the other gods with adornments and weapons, the Devī laughed thunderously and defiantly again and again.
2.33 She filled the entire sky with Her terrible roar, and from the immeasurable din a great echo resounded.
2.34 All the worlds shook, and the oceans churned. The earth quaked, and the mountains heaved.
2.35 In joy the gods exclaimed, ‘Victory! ’ to the lion-mounted Devī; and with bodies bowed in devotion, the sages praised Her.
2.36 When the enemies of the gods saw the three worlds in upheaval, they readied all their forces for battle and rose up as one, with weapons held high.
2.37 ‘Aha! What is this?’ Mahiṣāsura bellowed in wrath. Surrounded by countless asuras, he rushed toward the sound
2.38 and then beheld the Devī, who pervaded the three worlds with Her radiance, bending the earth under Her tread, scraping the sky with Her diadem,
2.39 shaking all the nether regions with the resonance of Her bowstring, and standing there, penetrating every direction with Her thousand arms.
2.40 Thereupon, the battle began between the Devī and the enemies of the gods. Swords and missiles, hurled in every direction, lit up the quarters of the sky.
2.41 Mahiṣāsura’s general, the great asura named Cikṣura, battled there, and Cāmara led cavalry, charioteers, elephant-drivers, and foot soldiers.
2.42 The great asura called Udagra commanded sixty thousand chariots, Mahāhanu gave battle with his ten million,
2.43 and the mighty Asiloman fought with forces fifty million strong. With sixty million Bāṣkala fought in the conflict.
2.44 Encircled by streaming multitudes of elephants and horses, Parivārita fought in that battle with ten million chariots,
2.45 and he who is called Biḍāla, with five billion chariots surrounding him, engaged in combat there.
2.46 Amid chariots, elephants, and horses, myriads of other great asuras battled with the Devī,
2.47 their countless chariots, elephants, and horses surrounding Māhiṣāsura there in the fray.
2.48 With lances and javelins, spears and clubs, swords and axes, and sharp-edged spears, they fought with the Devī.
2.49 Some hurled spears while others threw nooses; intent on killing Her, they began an assault with their swords.
2.50 But She, the Devī Caṇḍikā, showered down all manner of weapons and cut through their armaments as if in play.
2.51 Praised by gods and seers, She remained serene, even while unleashing Her weapons at the asuras’ bodies.
2.52 Her lion-mount, shaking its mane in fury, stalked among the demon throngs as fire rages through a Forest.
2.53 The sighs that Ambikā heaved while fighting became at once Her legions by the hundreds and thousands.
2.54 They fought with axes, javelins, swords, and sharp- edged spears, and drawing strength from Her power, they destroyed the demon hordes.
2.55 Some of Her throngs beat war drums resoundingly, some blew conches, and others drummed upon tabors in their zest for battle.
2.56 Then the Devī, with Her trident, club, and volleys of spears, with Her swords and other weapons, slew great asuras by the hundreds
2.57 and brought down still more with the confounding din of Her bell. Binding other asuras with Her noose, She dragged them along the ground.
2.58 Her swordstrokes slashed others in two, while crushing blows from Her mace brought still more down,
2.59 and those bludgeoned by Her club vomited forth blood. Others fell to the ground, pierced through the chest by Her trident.
2.60 Her steady stream of arrows made some on that battlefield resemble bristling porcupines, and those tormenters of the gods breathed their last.
2.61 Some had their arms severed, others their necks broken. The heads of others rolled, and still others had their bodies ripped apart.
2.62 Great asuras, their legs cut from under them, toppled to the ground. Some, severed lengthwise by the Devī, were left one-armed, one-eyed, one-legged.
2.63 While others there in the battle danced to the throbbing drums, those that She decapitated fell and rose again,
2.64 headless bodies, still grasping swords, spears, and lances in hand. ‘Stop! Stop!’ other great asuras cried out to the Devī.
2.65 Where that great battle raged, the earth was impassable with fallen chariots, elephants, horses, and corpses.
2.66 Torrents of blood, like mighty rivers, gushed from elephants, asuras, and horses there in the midst of the demon army.
2.67 In an instant, Ambikā led that vast legion of foes to its destruction, as quickly as fire consumes a heap of straw and wood.
2.68 And Her lion, roaring thunderously and shaking its mane, prowled about in search of life- breath still issuing from the enemies’ bodies.
2.69 So did the Devī’s hosts wage war against the asuras. So also did the gods in heaven shower down flowers in praise.”