The gods fell to their knees and worshipped the goddess, begging her to rid the universe of the demon Mahishasura.

To help her, the gods gave her their own divine weapons: Vishnu gave her his discus and Shiva his trident. Varuna, the god of the Sea and the Rivers, gave her his conchshell and a noose, Agni, the god of Fire, gave her a flaming missile, and Pawan, the god of the Winds, gave her fast-flying arrows. Indra, king of the gods, gave her his thunderbolt, and Airavat, his white elephant, gave her his bell. Yama, the god of Death, gave her a rod, while Vishwakarma, the god of smiths, gave her a sharp-edged axe and bright armour. Haimavat, god of the Mountains, gave her jewels to adorn herself, and a fierce lion to ride into battle as her steed.

Durga, blazing with light, rode into battle against Mahishasura. The demon, seeing Durga, realised that his end was near, for Brahma's boon did not protect him against women. Wild with fury, he changed himself into a gigantic water buffalo. Durga's lion attacked the buffalo and pinned it to the ground. Durga beheaded the buffalo, and from it emerged the demon in his original form. Durga pierced his chest with Shiva's trident and killed him, thus freeing the earth and heaven from his cruelty and tyranny.

And therefore, because she rid the world of evil, the goddess Durga is, to this day, worshipped by all the gods in heaven and all mankind on earth.

Durga Puja  
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