In the fight of the Asuras with the Devis, while most of them fought with weapons, Brahmani had to just chant some incantations and sprinkle holy water and that was enough to pulverise them. The description of these fights may seem gory, to read, but our traditional literature never shied away from going to the root of a thought and yanking it out of our consciousness.
The characters in these tales are the innumerable fragrances of past actions that are lodged in our physical frame as vibratory information. They are called vasanas. They propel our desires and the desires produce thoughts. The thoughts produce words and actions. Actions again apply pressure on the vibratory impulses and strengthen them. This is a cycle on auto-repeat, until we become aware of it.
The Gods are the divine vibratory impulses of harmony and order. When they are shown as fighting with weapons and powerful spells, it means that there is a period of time in history when goodness is empowered. It is to show that there will one day be an end to atrocity of any kind. When people terrorise and trouble others and disturb the harmony of society, this story shows that there will be an end to it and it need not come only from men. It can happen through women and even children. With the destruction of Nishumbha, the ninth chapter of the Devi Mahatmyam comes to an end. This is a story not even from our times, but an earlier reign of Manu called the Savarnika Manvantara and is told in the Sri Markandeya Purana.
The rishi who was narrating this story to the king and the trader said that when Shumbha saw that Nishumbha was killed, he said, “O Durga, be not so insolent, thinking you have achieved this. It is with the support of these goddesses that you have done this.” Devi revealed herself as the one power manifesting through the universe, “Shumbha, I alone exist everywhere in this universe. See all these powers that came from me, merge back into me.” As she said this, all the other goddesses merged into Durga. “You have seen my unified form? Now stand steady and fight,” she challenged.
The war began and there was a sharp exchange of missiles. Shumbha countered the missiles sent by Ambika. All his missiles were sent to their death by just a laughing sound of “Hum…” that she uttered. Angry that Shumbha was, he sent a barrage of arrows. The fun was too much for Ambika to tolerate and she snapped his bow string with all the arrows. Unable to send arrows, he took his club and she did a beautiful discus throw and smashed it to pieces.
The author is Sevak, Chinmaya Mission, Tiruchi; brni.sharanyachaitanya@gmail.com; www.chinmayamission.com