{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/db/bk10ch12.htm","path":"hin/db/bk10ch12.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk10ch12.htm","text":"THE TENTH BOOK\nChapter XII\nOn the anecdote of S\u00e2varni Manu\n1-6. The Muni said :-- O King! The powerful Asura Mahisa, born of a she-buffalo, defeated all the Devas and became the Lord of the whole universe. That indomitable D\u00e2nava seized forcibly all\nthe rights of the Devas and began to enjoy the pleasures of the kingdom over the three worlds. The Devas, thus defeated, were expelled from their abodes in Heavens. They took Brahm\u00e2 as their Leader and went to the excellent regions where Mah\u00e2 Deva and Visnu resided and informed them of all that had been done by that vicious Asura Mahisa. They said :-- \u201cO Deva of the Devas! The insolent Mahis\u00e2sura has become unbearable and he has taken possessions of the rights and properties of the whole host of the Devas and he is now enjoying them. Both of you are quite capable to destroy the Asura. So why do you not devise means to annihilate him in no time!\u201d\n7-10. Hearing these pitiful words of the Devas, Bhagav\u00e2n Visnu became quite indignant. S\u2019ankara, Brahm\u00e2 and the other Devas all were inflamed with anger. O King! From the face of the angry Hari, then emanated an Unusual Fire, brilliant like thousand Suns. Then by and by emanated fires also from the bodies of all the Devas who were filled then with joy. From the mass of fire thus emanated there came out a beautiful Female Figure. The face of this figure was formed out of the fire that emanated from the body of Mah\u00e2 Deva. Her hairs were formed out of the fire of Yama and Her arms were formed out of the fire that emanated from Visnu.\n11-21. O King! From the fire of the Moon came out two breasts; from the fire of Indra came out Her middle portion; from the fire of Varuna, appeared Her loins and thighs; from the fire of Earth, Her hips were formed; from the fire of Brahm\u00e2, Her feet were formed; from the fire of the Sun, Her toes were formed; from the fire of the Vasus, Her fingers were formed; from Kuvera's fire, Her nose came out; from the excellent tejas of Praj\u00e2pati, teeth; from the fire of Agni, Her three eyes; from the fire of the twilights, Her eye-brows and from the fire of V\u00e2yu, Her ears appeared.\nO Lord of men! Thus Bhagavat\u00ee Mahisamardin\u00ee was born of the Tejas (fiery substances) of the Devas. Next S\u2019iva gave Her the S\u2019\u00fbla (weapon spear); Visnu gave Sudars'ana (Chakra); Varuna gave the conchshell; Fire gave S'akti (weapon); V\u00e2yu gave Her bows and arrows; Indra gave Her thunder bolt and the bell of the elephant Air\u00e2vata; Yama gave Her the Destruction Staff (K\u00e2la Danda); Br\u00e2m\u00e2 gave Her the Rudr\u00e2ksa, rosary and Kamandalu; the Sun gave Her, in every pore the wonderful rays; the Time (K\u00e2la) gave Her sharp axe and shield; the oceans gave Her the beautiful necklace and new clothes (two in number); Vis'vakarm\u00e2 gladly gave Her the crown, ear-rings,\nkataka, Angada, Chandr\u00e2rdha, tinklets; and the Him\u00e2lay\u00e2s gave Her the Lion as Her Vehicle and various gems and jewels.\n22-30. Kuvera, the Lord of wealth gave Her the cup filled with the drink; Bhagav\u00e2n Ananta Deva gave Her a necklace of snakes (N\u00e2gh\u00e2ra). Thus the World Mother, the Dev\u00ee, became honoured by all the Devas. The Devas, very much oppressed by Mahis\u00e2sura, then, chanted various hymns of praise to the World Mother M\u00e2hes'var\u00ee Mah\u00e2 Dev\u00ee.\nHearing their Stotras, the Deves'\u00ee, worshipped by the Devas, shouted aloud the War-Cry. O King! Mahis\u00e2sura, startled at that War-Cry, came to Bhagavat\u00ee with all his army corps. Then that great Asura Mahisa hurled various weapons in the air and overcast the sky with them and began to fight with great skill. The several generals Chiksura, Durdhara, Durmukha, V\u00e2skala, T\u00e2mraka, Vid\u00e2l\u00e2ksa and various other innumerable generals as if Death incarnate, accompanied Mahisa, the chief D\u00e2nava. A fierce fight then ensued. Then the Dev\u00ee Who enchants all the beings, became red-eyed with anger and began to kill the generals of the against party. When the generals were killed one by one Mahis\u00e2sura, skilled in the science of magic, came up quickly to the front of the Dev\u00ee.\n31-40. The Lord of the D\u00e2navas, then, by his magic power, began to assume various forms. Bhagavat\u00ee, too, began to destroy his those forms. Then the Daitya, the crusher of the Devas, assumed the form of a buffalo and began to fight. The Dev\u00ee then fastened the animal, the Asura, the Death of the Devas, tightly and cut off his head by Her axe. The remainder of his forces, then, fled away in terror and disorder with a loud cry. The Devas became very glad and began to chant hymns to the Dev\u00ee. O King! Thus the Laksm\u00ee Dev\u00ee appeared to kill Mahis\u00e2sura. Now I will describe how Sarasvat\u00ee appeared. Listen. Once on a time the two very powerful Daityas S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha were born. They attacked the Devas, oppressed them and seized their houses and rights. The Devas became dispossessed of their kingdoms and went to the Him\u00e2lay\u00e2s and offered stotras to the Dev\u00ee with the greatest devotion :-- \u201cO Deves\u2019\u00ee! O Thou, skilled in removing the difficulties of the Bhaktas! Victory to Thee! O Thou, the Sinless One! Old age and death cannot touch Thee. O Thou! Death incarnate to the D\u00e2navas! O Deves\u2019\u00ee! O Thou, of mighty valour and prowess! O Thou, the embodiment of Brahm\u00e2, Visnu and Mahes'a! Unbounded is Thy might; Thou canst be easily reached by the power of devo-\ntion. O Thou, the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer! O M\u00e2dhav\u00ee! O Thou, the Giver of Bliss! Thou dancest with great joy at the time of the dissolution of all the things (Pralaya).\n41-50. O Thou, full of mercy! O Deva Deves\u2019\u00ee! Be gracious unto us. O Thou, the Remover of the sufferings of the refugees! We now come unto Thy protection. The terror of S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha is like an endless ocean unto us. Save, save us from their fast clutches. O Dev\u00ee! save us O King! verily.\u201d When the Devas praised thus, the daughter of the Him\u00e2lay\u00e2s, Bhagavat\u00ee became pleased and asked \u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d In the meanwhile, there emitted from the physical sheath of the Dev\u00ee another Dev\u00ee Kaus'ik\u00ee who gladly spoke to the Devas :-- \u201cO Suras! I am pleased with Thy Stotra. Now ask the boon that you desire.\u201d The Devas then asked for the following boon :-- \u201cO Dev\u00ee! The two famous Daityas S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha have attacked forcibly the three worlds. The wicked Lord of the D\u00e2navas, S\u2019umbha, has overcome us by the power of his arm and is now tormenting us without any break. Kindly devise some means to kill him.\u201d The Dev\u00ee said :-- \u201cO Devas! Be patient. I will kill these two Daityas, S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha and thus remove the thorn on your way. At an early date I will do good to you.\u201d Thus saying to Indra and the other Devas the merciful Dev\u00ee disappeared at once before their eyes. The Deva with their hearts delighted went to the beautiful Sumeru Mountain and dwelt there in the caves thereof.\nHere the servants of S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha Chanda and Munda, while they were making their circuits, saw the exquisitely beautiful Dev\u00ee, the Enchantress of the world, and came back to S\u2019umbha their King and said :--\n51-60. \u201cO Destroyer of enemies! O Giver of honour! O Greal King! You are the Lord of all the Daityas and are fit to enjoy all the gems and jewels. To-day we have seen an extraordinary beautiful woman jewel. She is fit to be enjoyed by you. So now you would better bring that perfectly beautiful woman and enjoy. No such enchanting women can be seen amongst the Asura women N\u00e2ga Kany\u00e2s Gandharbha women, D\u00e2nav\u00ees or men.\u201d Hearing thus the words of the servant, S\u2019umbha, the tormentor of the foes, sent a Daitya named Sugr\u00eeva as a messenger to Her. The messenger went to the Dev\u00ee as early as possible and spoke to Her all that S\u2019umbha had told him. \u201cO Dev\u00ee! The Asura S\u2019umbha is now the conqueror of the three worlds and respected by the Devas. O Dev\u00ee!\nHe is now enjoying all that is best, the gems and jewels; O Dev\u00ee! I am his messenger sent here to convey to you his message as follows :-- O Dev\u00ee! I am the sole enjoyer of all the jewels. O Beautiful-eyed! You are a gem; so you would worship me. O Fair One! All the gems and jewels that are in the Deva loka, in the Daitya loka, or amongst the regions of men, are under my control. So you would lovingly worship me.\u201d The Dev\u00ee said :-- \u201cO Messenger! True that you are speaking for your King; but I made a promise before, how can I act against it? O Messenger! Hear what I promised.\n61-70. Whoever in the three worlds will conquer Me by sheer force and thus crush My vanity, whoever will be as strong as Myself, He can enjoy Me. So the King of Daityas can prove My promise true and by sheer force can marry Me. What is there with him that he cannot do? So, Messenger! Go back to your master and tell him all this so that the powerful S\u2019umbha may fulfil My promise.\u201d Hearing thus the words of the Great Dev\u00ee, the messenger went back to S\u2019umbba and informed him everything regarding the Dev\u00ee's sayings. The very powerful Lord of the Daityas, S\u2019umbha became very angry at the unpleasant words of the messenger and commanded the Daitya named Dhumr\u00e2ksa :-- \u201cO Dhumr\u00e2ksa! Listen to my words with great attention. Go and catch hold of that wicked woman by her hairs and bring her to me. Go quickly; do not delay.\u201d Thus commanded, the very powerful and the best of the Daityas, Dhumr\u00e2ksa, went at once to the Dev\u00ee with sixty thousand Daityas and cried aloud to Her :--\n\u201cO Auspicious One! You would better worship quickly our Lord S\u2019umbha, who is very powerful and mighty; you will then acquire all sorts of pleasures; else I will hold you by your hairs and take you to the Lord of the Daityas.\u201d\n71-80. Thus addressd by Dhumr\u00e2ksa Daitya, the enemy of the Devas, the Dev\u00ee said :-- \u201cO Powerful One! O Daitya! What you have spoken is perfectly right, but tell me first what you or your king S\u2019umbha can do to Me?\u201d When the Dev\u00ee said thus, the Daitya Dh\u00fbmralochana rushed on Her at once with arms and weapons. With one loud noise, M\u00e2hes'var\u00ee burnt him immediately to ashes. O King! The other forces were partly crushed by the Lion, the vehicle of the Dev\u00ee and partly fled away in disorder to all the quarters; some became senseless out of fear. S\u2019umbba , the Lord of the Daityas, became very angry to hear this. His face assumed a terrible form with eyebrows contracted. Then he became impatient with anger and sent in order Chanda, Munda and Raktab\u00eeja.\nThe three powerful Daityas went to the battle and tried their might to capture the Dev\u00ee. The Dev\u00ee Jagaddh\u00e2tr\u00ee, of violent prowess, seeing that these three Daityas were coming to Her, killed them by Her trident and laid them prostrate on the ground. Hearing their death with all their army, S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha came in their own persons arrogantly to the battlefield. S\u2019umbha and Nis'umbha fought for a time with the Dev\u00ee a terrible fight and became tired, when the Dev\u00ee killed them outright. When the Bhagavat\u00ee, Who is all this world, killed S\u2019umbba and Nis'umbha, the Devas began to praise Bhagavat\u00ee the Supreme Deity of V\u00e2k (Word) incarnate.\n81-93. O King! Thus I have spoken to you in due order the manner in which the beautiful K\u00e2l\u00ee, Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee and Sarasvat\u00ee incarnated themselves on the earth. That Supreme Deity, the Dev\u00ee Parames'var\u00ee thus creates, preserves, and destroys the Universe. You better take refuge of that highly adored Dev\u00ee, that causes the distinction and the delusion of this Universe. Then only you will attain success. N\u00e2r\u00e2yana said :-- The king Suratha, hearing these beautiful words of the Muni, took refuge of the Dev\u00ee, that yields all desired objects. He built an earthen image of the Dev\u00ee and, with concentrated attention, thought wholly of the Dev\u00ee and began to worship Her with devotion. When the worship was over, he offered sacrifices of the blood of his body to the Dev\u00ee. Then the World-Mother, the Deity of the Devas, became pleased and appeared before him and asked him :-- Accept the boon that you desire. When the Dev\u00ee said thus, the king asked from the Mahes'var\u00ee that excellent knowledge whereby the ignorance is destroyed and as well the kingdom free from any dangers or difficulties. The Dev\u00ee said :-- \u201cO King! By My boon, you will get your foeless kingdom in this very birth as well as the J\u00f1\u00e2nam that removes ignorance. O King! I will tell you also what you will be in the next birth. Hear. In your next birth, you will be the son of the Sun and be famous as S\u00e2varni Manu. By My boon you will be the Lord of the Manvantara, become very powerful and you will get good many sons.\u201d Thus granting him this boon, the Dev\u00ee disappeared. By the Grace of the Dev\u00ee, Suratha became the Lord of the Manvantara. O S\u00e2dhu! Thus I have described to you the birth and deeds of S\u00e2varni. He who hears or reads this anecdote with devotion, will be a favourite of the Dev\u00ee.\nHere ends the Twelfth Chapter of the Tenth Book on the anecdote of S\u00e2varni Manu in the Mah\u00e2pur\u00e2nam S\u2019r\u00ee Mad Dev\u00ee Bh\u00e2gavatam of 18,000 verses by Mah\u00e2rsi Veda Vy\u00e2sa.","title":"The Devi Bhagavatam: The Tenth Book: Chapter 12","type":"page"}