The Devi Mahatmya 002: Devi Mahamaya and the Killing of Madhu and Kaitava

King Suratha continued and said, “How did Devi Mahamaya appear? What is Her form like? What did She do? I am speaking on behalf of Samadhi and myself and we are curious to know about this Devi.” Saying this, he looked at the merchant. Samadhi nodded and said, “Yes, O great rishi. Do tell us about this Devi.”

Rishi Sumedha sat upright and took a deep breath. He then said, “You have asked me about the Devi and I shall attempt to tell you about Her. She is eternal. She is formless, and to describe Her form, I shall say Her form is like the universe. Depending on Her will, She takes on a form. I shall attempt to tell you about some of Her forms. As I said, She is formless and when She takes on a form to help the Devas, that is when people are able to give a name to Her form and describe Her.

“This is from a time when there was nothing. A void. There was no land, no animal. There was no living being. All that was there was water; this was the first stage of creation. All that was there at that moment on the water was a huge thousand-headed serpent coiled on the surface. This snake was Ananta Shesha and on the coils was lying Vishnu. Vishnu was in a state of deep sleep, not aware of what was happening around him. There was some movement, and from Vishnu’s navel, a lotus began to emerge. The stem of the lotus began to grow till it was above the surface of the waters. On the tip of the stem was a bud which gradually opened. Sitting on the flower was Brahma.

“Brahma surveyed the surroundings. He had the task of creation and was wondering how to begin his task when he felt the lotus stem move violently. Surprised, Brahma looked down. When the lotus had emerged from Vishnu’s navel, two beings emerged from the wax in his ears. They came out of Vishnu’s ear canal. They were tiny when they emerged. They were on the coils of the snake. They knew they were tiny and they began increasing their size. Once they were comfortable with their size, they stopped and looked around. They saw the sleeping Vishnu. They then stepped on to the surface of the water and realised they were able to walk on the surface without drowning. They then spotted the lotus and saw Brahma on top of the lotus. Try as they could, they were unable to reach the top of the lotus. Irritated, they wanted to get rid of Brahma. They were unable to climb up the lotus stem and, in an attempt to bring Brahma down, these two beings started shaking the lotus stem violently.

“Brahma saw these two. They were two Asuras and if they were not killed, he would not be able to proceed with the creation. Brahma called out to Vishnu but to no avail. Brahma closed his eyes and began thinking. What could be the reason for Vishnu not waking up? It was then that he realised that this was no ordinary sleep. Vishnu was in a state of Yoganidra. Seeing no other option, Brahma decided to see if he could negotiate with the Asuras. He called out to the two and said, ‘Who are you? What do you want?’

“In response to that, the Asuras said, ‘Forget who we are. Who are you? We want a fight. Fight us or leave this place.’

“Brahma tried to pray to Vishnu but there was no response. Then with no option left, Brahma started praying to the Devi who is Yoganidra. He wanted Her to leave Vishnu so that these two Asuras could be gotten rid of.

“Brahma prayed to Her, calling out Her many names. Bramha described Her as the One who is awe-inspiring and who, in Her many hands, holds a sword, a spear, a mace, a discus, a conch shell, a bow, arrows, a club, a bludgeon and a catapult. He called out Her many names, asking for Her to leave Vishnu and to help kill the asuras who had been born from dirt:
Nidra, Yoganidra, Svaha, Svadha, Vashtakar, Svara, Sudha, OM, Sandhya, Gayatri, Devjanani, Mahavidya, Mahamaya, Mahamedha, Mahasmriti, Mahamoha, Mahasuri, Mahadevi, Kalratri, Moharatri, Maharatri, Shri, Ishwari, Hrim, Bodha, Buddhi, Lajja, Pushti, Tushti, Shanti, Kshama, Soumya, Soumyta, Parameshwari, Sarvaswarupa.

“He then said, ‘O Mother, what can I say about You? You have put to sleep the one who is the preserver of this universe. You are the one who gave us, Vishnu, Shiva and me our forms. Please help me. Awaken Vishnu so that he is able to defeat these two Asuras who are trying to kill me.’

“Pleased with Brahma’s prayer, the Devi left Vishnu and came and stood before Brahma before vanishing. She was Tamasic in nature, dark, and resembled the manner in which Brahma had described Her. She had ten hands and in those ten hands she held the various weapons and objects that Brahma Had spoken about. With the Devi having left him Vishnu yawned and slowly opened his eyes. He was now wide awake. He then looked around. He was on his serpent, on the vast expanse of water. Then he saw the two Asuras. They were tall and appeared very strong. They were trying their best to climb up the lotus stem. As they were unsuccessful, they were getting extremely frustrated. Vishnu stood up and called out to them and asked them who they were. The Asuras said they were Madhu and Kaitava and they wanted to kill Brahma. Seeing this, Vishnu challenged them to a fight. None of them used any weapons. For many years, Vishnu and the Asuras wrestled on the surface of the water. They were strong and Vishnu was unable to defeat them. Then the Devi acted. If She did not, then this fight would go on. Creation would not happen. She entered the minds of the Asuras and deluded them. In that delusion, the Asuras stopped and said to Vishnu, ‘We are pleased to see your wrestling skills. This is very impressive. We want to offer you a boon. Ask us for anything.’

“Vishnu thought for a moment and then said, ‘If you are pleased with me, then give me this boon. You shall meet your end in my hands.’

“As soon as Vishnu said this, the Asuras realised what had just happened. They had been fooled. Not willing to give up so easily, they looked around. There was nothing but water. They then said to Vishnu, ‘We are willing to meet our end at your hands, if you can kill us in a place where there is no water.’

“Vishnu said, ‘So be it,’ and then increased his size. Catching the two Asuras by their hair, he balanced them on his thigh, and, pressing them down with one hand, he used his chakra to cut off their heads. The Asuras met their end in a place which was untouched by water.”

Ending this story, the rishi said, “This is Devi Mahamaya who appeared when Brahma had prayed to Her and pleased Her. I shall tell you more about Her.”