Raktabija – The Demon Who Multiplied with Every Drop of Blood

Among the demons who confronted the Goddess, Raktabija was unlike any of the others. His power lay not only in his strength, but in a terrible gift that made him almost impossible to defeat. Whenever a drop of his blood fell upon the earth, another demon appeared from it, possessing the same power as the original. Thus, every wound inflicted upon him became the beginning of another enemy.

The Goddess fought against him, but the more Raktabija was wounded, the greater the number of demons became. His blood fell upon the ground and from it new forms arose, until the battlefield was filled with countless demons. What had begun with one enemy had become an army, and every attempt to destroy him seemed only to increase his strength.

The Goddess understood that Raktabija could not be defeated in the ordinary way. His blood had to be prevented from reaching the earth. It was then that Kali appeared in her fierce form. She spread her tongue across the battlefield and began to drink the blood of Raktabija as it flowed from his wounds, so that not a single drop could fall to the ground and give birth to another demon.

As the battle continued, Kali consumed the blood while the Goddess continued to strike at Raktabija. Deprived of the power contained in his blood, he could no longer multiply himself. In this way, the endless creation of demons finally came to an end, and Raktabija was destroyed.

The appearance of Kali in the story marks a change in the character of the battle. The Goddess had already fought against powerful enemies, but Raktabija presented a different kind of danger. His strength was contained in the very substance that flowed from his body, and every attempt to wound him threatened to make the enemy stronger. Kali therefore had to act in a different manner. She did not merely attack the demon; she prevented the source of his power from producing anything more.

The story of Raktabija is one of the most striking episodes in the account of the Goddess and her battle with the demons. His power seems to have no end because every drop of blood can become another manifestation of the same force. Only when that process is stopped can the demon finally be overcome.

But Kali herself does not immediately return to her peaceful state after the destruction of Raktabija. The force that has been released upon the battlefield continues to move through her. Her terrible dance does not stop with the defeat of the demon, and soon her power becomes something that even the gods themselves fear.

It is at this moment that Shiva enters the story.

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.

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