Kālī in the Battle Against Śumbha and Niśumbha
When Raktabīja had been slain and the demons defeated in battle, Śumbha and Niśumbha were overcome with fury. Niśumbha advanced first, surrounded by the strongest warriors of his army. Demons gathered around him on every side, eager to kill the Goddess. Śumbha followed with his own forces, intent on fighting the Mothers and killing Caṇḍikā.
The two brothers entered a fierce battle with the Goddess. Arrows poured across the field, but Caṇḍikā met them with her own weapons, striking both demon lords. Niśumbha turned against her lion, striking its head with his sword. The Goddess broke his sword and shield, then shattered the spear he hurled at her. When he seized a lance, she crushed it in mid-flight with her hand. His club, thrown at Caṇḍikā, was reduced to ashes by her trident. Still he pressed forward, until the Goddess struck him with a shower of arrows and brought him down.
Seeing his brother fall, Śumbha went out to confront Ambikā. He appeared upon his chariot, his eight arms raised with splendid weapons. The Goddess sounded her conch, and the twang of her bowstring rang out. Her bell filled the surrounding directions with its sound, while the roar of her lion spread through heaven and earth.
Kālī, too, leapt into the sky and struck the earth with her hands. The noise she made drowned out the sounds that had come before. Śivadūtī added a dreadful, ill-omened cackle. These sounds filled the demons with terror, and Śumbha grew furious.
The battle between Śumbha and the Goddess continued. He sent a blazing spear towards her, but she cast it down with her firebrand. Their arrows met in the air, each breaking the other's weapons. At last Caṇḍikā pierced Śumbha with her lance. Wounded, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Niśumbha then regained consciousness, took up his bow, and attacked the Goddess, Kālī, and her lion with arrows. He assumed a form with ten thousand arms and covered Caṇḍikā with ten thousand discus weapons. The Goddess shattered them with her own arrows. Niśumbha rushed at her with a club, but Caṇḍikā split it with her sword. He came forward once more, this time carrying a spear, and she pierced him in the heart with a swiftly thrown pike.
From Niśumbha's wounded heart emerged another mighty warrior, crying out for the fight to continue. The Goddess laughed and severed his head with her sword. Niśumbha fell to the ground.
Around them, the battle continued. The lion devoured demons whose necks it had broken, while Kālī and Śivadūtī consumed others. The Mothers struck down their enemies with their own weapons: Kaumārī with her spear, Maheśvarī with her trident, Varāhī with blows from her snout, Vaiṣṇavī with her discus, and Aindrī with her thunderbolt. Some demons perished, others fled, and still others were devoured by Kālī, Śivadūtī, and the lion.
When Śumbha saw his brother dead and his army destroyed, he turned to the Goddess with an accusation. He reproached her for relying on the strength of others and boasting of her own power. The Goddess answered that she alone existed in the world and that there was no second besides her. She called upon her manifestations to return to her.
The goddesses, beginning with Brahmāṇī, entered back into the body of the Goddess, and Ambikā stood alone. She declared that the many forms in which she had appeared had arisen through her own power, which she had now withdrawn. The struggle that followed was between the Goddess and Śumbha alone.
Source & Note
This article is based on Thomas B. Coburn, Encountering the Goddess: A Translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation, Chapter 3, “The Text in Translation,” sections 9–10, pp. 68–71. The material has been edited and adapted for this publication. The article follows Coburn’s translation and does not incorporate interpretations from other sources.
Image:
Kali Attacking Nisumbha, c. 1740. Pahari painting, Cleveland Museum of Art, accession no. 1968.44. "Source: Cleveland Museum of Art" (https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.44). CC0.
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