You are the creative power behind Brahma, and the sustaining force of Vishnu, the enemy of Madhu. You are known as Ekānanshā, born as the delight of Yaśodā herself. You are knowledge, you are the great illusion, you are Lakshmi and Sarasvati—abiding as wisdom and prosperity. Pleased, the goddess prepared herself for battle with the formidable Mahishasura. She advanced, wielding a fierce discus and a club, and held a fly-whisk in her hand. Her visage was terrible to behold, her eyes blazing with fury, as she brandished an axe and a spear. With great wrath, she struck down Mahishasura’s followers right before his eyes, and then engaged the demon king himself in a fierce battle. Enraged, Mahishasura retaliated, showering Durga with arrows. But Durga, filled with righteous anger, seized the lord of the Asuras. In the heat of battle, the demon struck Durga in the face with three arrows. With another, he wounded her charioteer; eight arrows he sent into her chariot, and three more struck her bow. Mahishasura fought both on foot and from his chariot, wielding a hundred-bladed, blazing weapon, his fury undiminished. Witnessing the terrifying fight, the gods cried out in distress, and the circle of Mother goddesses trembled in fear. Mahishasura took up a sword, an elephant goad, a noose, a club, and a handful of other weapons—an axe, a spear, a mace—hurling them all at Durga. Yet, as the weapons of her enemies rushed toward her, Durga seized them, undaunted. Even her lion, drawn close by Durga, was marked by the tip of her tail. Mahishasura’s form shifted ceaselessly: for a moment, he was a lion, then a boar, then a tiger, then an elephant. At last, in his rage, he took the shape of a mighty buffalo, his horns sharp and deadly. Sometimes he soared into the sky, sometimes he crashed down to the earth. Urged on by the circle of Mother goddesses, Durga attacked the buffalo-demon with renewed vigor. As she struck him down, a roaring sound echoed across the worlds. Strangled at the throat, the enemy of the immortals lost his life. Thus did Durga destroy Kāśara, the sole thorn tormenting all the worlds. What incomparable valor belongs to Durga, the remover of misfortune! When Bhadrakālī slew the buffalo-demon, Gaurī herself bowed with her sword-bearing hand. Seeing Durga dance in triumph, yet moved by compassion, Gaurī spoke with reverence: “O dweller on Vindhya, you have accomplished a most difficult deed. Now, remove the buffalo’s head, so impure and terrifying.” Thus addressed, Durga, her mind filled with disgust at the demon’s form, was further implored: “O goddess, create here a new sacred place that destroys all sin.” Gautama, too, spoke thus, and Durga, anxious about evil, responded. From the stone surface, a cleft opened, reaching down to the netherworld, and Durga immersed herself in the deep, pure waters that sprang forth. At that moment, the liṅga that had been at the buffalo’s neck fell to the ground. Emerging from the sacred waters, Durga was washed clean of all sins. She circumambulated and bowed to the Lord, the destroyer of sins. Seeing her thus purified before their very eyes, Pārvatī granted her approval for the slaying of Mahishasura, and all was set right.