As the battle raged and the demon forces fell into chaos, Mahisha, their mighty leader, watched in disbelief as his army was shattered before his eyes. Turning to his commander, he demanded, “What is this? My army is destroyed!” In response, the demon Yajñahanur, who possessed the form of a great elephant, explained that everywhere, defeat had been brought about by the maidens. Fueled by anger, Mahisha rushed toward these maidens with beautiful eyes, seizing his mace. One among them, swift and resolute, charged directly at him. At the place where the goddess stood, honored by the gods and gandharvas alike, Mahisha approached. Seeing his advance, the goddess transformed, manifesting twenty arms. With each hand, she grasped a weapon: bow, sword, spear, arrows, trident, mace, axe, drum, a mighty bell, the hundred-killer, a dreadful mallet, bhuśuṇḍī, spear, pestle, discus, sling, staff, noose, banner, and lotus—twenty weapons in all. Mounted upon a fierce lion, she remembered Rudra, the wrathful lord of the gods, the very force of destruction. At her call, the bull-bannered Rudra himself appeared. The goddess bowed to him and declared, “I shall conquer all the demons.” O eternal Lord of gods, merely by his presence, the supreme goddess overcame the demonic host. She spared Mahisha alone, slaying the rest, and then approached him. Upon seeing her, Mahisha fled, but sometimes he fought, sometimes he retreated, engaging in battle again and again, his mind gripped by fear. For ten thousand divine years, Mahisha battled the goddess, wandering across the battlefield, never free from dread. At last, on a great mountain with a hundred peaks, the goddess pressed him down with her feet and struck him with her trident. There, she severed his head with her sword, and his spirit, vanquished by her weapons, ascended to heaven. Witnessing Mahisha’s defeat, all the gods, together with Brahma, praised the goddess with joyful hearts. They offered salutations to her, extolling her as great in fortune, profound, and fearsome; victorious, established in existence, three-eyed, and facing all directions. They honored her as the slayer of Mahishasura, all-pervading, goddess of all gods, of universal form, Vaishnavi; free from sorrow, steadfast, radiant, fierce, and pure. They hailed her as the bestower of prosperity, accomplishment, knowledge, immortality, and auspiciousness—Śāṃkarī, Vaiṣṇavī, Brāhmī—honored by all the gods. With bell and trident, fierce and supreme enchantress, source of immortality; benefactor of all beings, mother of knowledge, scriptures, and arts, bearer of all elements. They called her auspicious, knower of divine secrets, incarnate among all beings, refuge of all, Ambikā; patience and unmanifest, disturbed in the waters within. They offered salutations to her as the great goddess, supreme ruler, eternal, imperishable, unchanging among the gods. The gods proclaimed that those who seek refuge in her, the supreme ruler, are protected from all dangers in battle. Whoever recites her hymn in the terrible fear of tigers or bandit kings, with self-control, is safeguarded. Even one bound in chains who remembers her is freed and lives happily. Śrī Varāha then said: Thus praised by the gods with reverence, the beautiful-hipped goddess spoke, “Choose the highest boon.” The gods requested, “O sinless goddess, grant that whoever recites this hymn of yours, you fulfill all their desires.” The supreme goddess replied, “So be it,” dismissed the gods, and remained there. Whoever knows this second birth of the goddess on earth becomes free from sorrow, pure, and attains a state without affliction. Śrī Varāha continued: Hear, O Earth, of the goddess who went to Nīlagiri, steadfast in asceticism, fierce, born of darkness—the vow of her power. She performed austerities for a long time, sustaining the entire world, and accomplished the five-fire practice. At another time, while the goddess engaged in supreme austerity, a brilliant asura named Ruru, granted a boon by Brahmā, arose. In the midst of the ocean stood a city rich in jewels and surrounded by a great forest; there, the demon king, terror of the gods, ruled. Ruru was accompanied by countless hundreds of thousands, tens of millions, and hundreds of millions of asuras, glorious as a second Namuci. In due course, surrounded by his vast army, he sought to conquer the ancient cities of the world guardians, spreading fear among the gods. As this great asura rose, the ocean’s waters swelled immensely, flooding the mountain slopes and teeming with countless crocodiles, sharks, and fish. From within the waters, a formidable and splendid army emerged, adorned with diverse armor and weapons, filled with many groups of enemies of the gods, mighty and skilled in battle. Islands filled with the foremost daityas, equipped with masses of bells and terrifying in their forms, appeared on all sides, resounding loudly. Horses adorned with golden ornaments, resembling red fish in the water, stood ready and emerged swiftly in hundreds of thousands and millions. Thus, the goddess’s power and the asura’s might set the stage for a new battle, as the world awaited the outcome of their cosmic struggle.