Durgasur

Durgasur was a Hindu demon. He was a vicious demon who had the power that no man could kill him and he tried to gain supremacy in Shiva's abode Kailash in his absence but he was killed by Parvati in the form of Goddess Durga.

Story

A demon named Durgasur performed severe penances to please Lord Brahma. Finally, Lord Brahma became pleased and he appeared before the meditating demon. He calls Durgasur's name. Awakening from his penances, Durgasur sees Lord Brahma standing in his front and he becomes elated to have his appearance. He pays his gratitude to the three-headed Lord. Brahma tells him that the time to demand his boon of his choice has arrived. Hearing this, Durgasur asks Lord Brahma to give him the boon that his death cannot be sealed by any man, demon or God. Hearing this, Lord Brahma grants the demon his desired boon that no masculine force shall overcome him. Hearing this, Durgasur becomes elated and he claims that he is invincible. Lord Brahma vanishes and leaves a bragging Durgasur, boasting about his boon. Meanwhile, Durgasur announces to his demon companions about his boon. Then, he decides to establish his dominance over the three worlds and that he thinks that no one can stop him. Later, the demon decides to attack Kailash in the absence of Lord Shiva. He fears about the dreadful outcome of him and his army. However his demon friend suggested to wait for some time before doing something. He predicts that Lord Shiva might be away from Kailash for a long time. That idea that Durgasur's friend gave him, gave Durgasur the confidence to ready his army. Durgasur thinks that when the day Lord Shiva is gone, he will establish his reign over Kailash. But when he returns, he will have to confront Durgasur. Saying so, Durgasur prepared his demon armies. Seeing this, his demon friend was annoyed at him and berates him for not waiting a certain time. Durgasur tells his friend that he has been given a boon that no one will kill him. His demon friend still demands him to wait for the appropriate time. Sage Narad, seeing all this has told Lord Vishnu that Durgasur has readied his army and planned to attack the three worlds and gain victory there. Lord Vishnu enlightens Narad about Durgasur's boon that his boon will not give him any form of protection from getting killed by a woman. Narad became overjoyed and went to Durgasur. Durgasur enquired about his arrival. Narad requested the demon not to attack the Gods as they will kill him. Durgasur, who was intent to attack, told Narad that he will not attack the Gods as he is afraid of death and asked him to tell the Gods that he will not attack the Gods. Narad became elated with joy and vanished. But what sage Narad didn't know, he fell into Durgasur's trap. First Durgasur started tormenting the inhabitants of Earth. Then, led by Durgasur, the demons defeated the Gods in a severe battle. He, with the help of his fellow demons, conquered the three worlds. He dominated the heaven, Earth and other worlds in his control. He also destroyed several residential schools. He compelled the wives of the sages to sing his praise, and sent the gods from heaven to dwell in the forests, and by a mere nod summoned them to reverence him. He abolished religious ceremonies; sages through fear of him gave up the reading of the Vedas; rivers changed their course; fire lost its energy, and the terrified stars retired from sight. He assumed the shape of the clouds, and gave rain whenever he pleased; the earth, through fear, yielded an abundant harvest, and the trees flowered and gave fruit out of the proper season. In Kailash, Parvati meditates upon the coming scenes and promises Lord Shiva that she will perform her duties for the deliverance of the world. At that time, the Gods approach her and inform that Durgasur had defeated them and captured the three worlds and request her for her protection. All the Gods, desperate for their Mother's protection, continually requested her to protect them. Parvati heeded to their request and that she will definitely stop Durgasur. The Gods were elated. Later, Nandi, Ganesh and Kartikeya observe a stern Parvati. At Durgasur's kingdom, his demon deputies praise him. Durgasur enlightens his demons about various topics and he advises his armies that they must attack Kailash, in the absence of Lord Shiva and gain supremacy and victory there. Back at Kailash, Parvati tells her sons and her servant Nandi that Durgasur has planned to attack Kailash. On hearing this, Kartikeya requested for orders to stop Durgasur and protect Kailash, but Parvati stops her older valiant warrior son, as she is the Mistress of Kailash. When someone comes to Kailash with the intent to harm it, she will definitely destroy him. She also says that Durgasur has planned to attack her abode. Ganesh, her second young son asked if his father, Lord Shiva would return to Kailash to kill Durgasur. Parvati said to her younger son that she is the only one who can put an end to his existence. She decides to send a peace messenger to Durgasur, with a last chance to surrender, as it's his final gift. Saying so, she caused Kaalratri or Kali, the Goddess of the death and night to appear. A dark female whose beauty bewitched the inhabitants of the three worlds. Kaalratri asked Parvati for her orders. So Parvati requested Kaalratri to act as her messenger and go to Durgasur and order him to restore things to their appropriate order. At Durgasur's kingdom, Kaalratri arrived there, as an attractive damsel wearing black apparels, making her appearance terrifying to all the demons present there, but not to Durgasur. One demon enquired about her arrival. Kaalratri quickly interrupts him and introduces herself as the messenger of Goddess Parvati. Durgasur talks back to the female messenger, and pretends to surrender to her, which annoyed Kaalratri. She threatens to burn him and his dungeon into ashes. Kaalratri tries to make Durgasur surrender to Parvati, but Durgasur wanted the female messenger to come close to her, but she resists by saying that he has called his end towards him. Hearing this, Durgasur becomes annoyed and ordered his deputies to hold the messenger in custody. Kaalratri says that holding a messenger in contempt is against the rules of war. But Durgasur still talks back to her and again ordered his demons to capture her. This time, Kaalratri expanded her size, with flames emanating from her body. Durgasur and his demon forces were terrified on seeing the huge form of Kaalratri. Kaalratri gave out a loud bloodcurdling roar, resulting in the destruction of Durgasur's soldiers who were sent to catch her. Seeing this, Durgasur became furious and he sent out 30,000 demons who were such monsters in size that they covered the surface of the earth. At the sight of these demons, Kaalratri fled to Parvati, followed by the demons. Durgasur, with innumerable demon soldiers, went to fight Parvati, at the Vindhyachal Mountain. Kaalratri or Kali returned to Parvati and conveyed Durgasur's reply to her. Parvati, on hearing this tells her that if Durgasur wants war, it's war he'll get. At the Vindhya mountains, Durgasur and his huge demon armies set out to attack Kailash. At that time, Lord Brahma, Goddess Saraswati, Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi, Narad and the Gods all appeared to witness the end of Durgasur. At that time, Parvati arrives there in an intense form, with eighteen arms sprouting from her back, holding all the deadly weapons of the Gods and seated on a lion/tiger. Her terrifying appearance frightened Durgasur and his huge demon army. Parvati was intent on killing Durgasur. Durgasur challenged Parvati for a battle. The eighteen-armed Parvati accepted his challenge and so, a fierce battle took place between the Goddess and the demons. The troops of the demon poured their arrows on Parvati as she sat on the mountain Vindhya, thick as the drops of rain in a storm; they even tore up trees, mountains, etc. and hurled them at her; in return she threw a weapon which carried away the arms of many of the demons. Durgasur himself then hurled a flaming dart at the goddess, which she turned aside; another being sent, she stopped it by a hundred arrows. He next aimed an arrow at Parvati's breast; this too she repelled, and two other weapons, a club and a pike. At last coming to close quarters, Parvati seized Durgasur and set her left foot on his breast, but he, managing to disengage himself, renewed the fight. At this moment, came, out of the body of the Goddess, all the innumerable Shaktis, all armed, came out of the Devi successively. The demons were even more terrified by seeing all the Shaktis acting as the helpers of Parvati. The Shaktis fought with the demons and succeed in destroying all of Durgasur's armies. Durgasur became furious after he saw that his armies were destroyed. He was the lone demon left in the battlefield. The eighteen-armed Parvati was left to kill the lone demon King, for the betterment of the world. Durgasur sent a dreadful shower of hail, the effect of which Parvati counteracted by an instrument called Sosuna. The demon now assumed the shape of an elephant as large as a mountain, and approached the goddess; but she tied his legs, and, with her nails, which were like scimitars, tore him to pieces. He rose again in the form of a buffalo, and with his horns cast stones, trees, and mountains, tearing up the trees by the breath of his nostrils. Parvati then pierced him with her trident; he reeled to and fro, and, renouncing the form of a buffalo, assumed his original body as a monster, with a thousand arms, having a weapon in each. Approaching Parvati, she destroyed his thousand arms, and carried him into the air, whence she threw him to the ground with fearful force. The fall had not destroyed him. Durgasur hurled his lethal weapons at Parvati as she hurled her deadly weapons at him. But all the demon's weapons were rendered futile by the Goddess's weapons. Durgasur again became furious when the eighteen-armed Parvati was dominating the battle. He ran towards her but he fell. Parvati, deciding to end the duel, hurled her trident at the defeated demon. Seeing the trident coming towards him, he was scared. Then, Parvati's trident pierced Durgasur in his chest. He instantly fell dead. Parvati succeeds in killing Durgasur. Seeing the end of demon Durgasur, the Gods glorified the eighteen-armed Goddess for killing Durgasur. Lord Brahma, Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi, Saraswati and Narad also praised her. After giving the eighteen-armed Parvati great praise, Parvati returned to her normal form. The Gods paid their gratitude to her for killing Durgasur and for liberating the three worlds from his bondage. Eventually, everything was restored to its proper order. Lord Brahma and Vishnu, with their respective wives and sage Narad, praised Parvati as Durgasur Sangharini. Since Parvati killed Durgasur, she was given the name Durga.