M
ahishasura is brought up by Ramba’s relatives and trained him as their
king. Mahishasura was always looking for more power. He worshipped Lord Brahma and
performed sever penance for a boon. The Lord is pleased and appeared before him.
Mahishasura obtained a boon from Lord Brahma by which no men could kill him. After receiving
the boon, Mahishasura began expanding his kingdom. Finally he entered the heaven and
conquered Devendra. All Devas are then exiled from heaven. Devas approached the male
Trinity- Brahma, Vishnu and Siva and pleaded for help. The male Trinity decided to consult
female Trinity- Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi. They decided to create a female character
by name Durga with a combined power of Devas and a combined beauty of female Trinity. Durga
provoked Mahishasura by her laughter to wage war with her. Mahishasura accepted the
challenge and a fierce battle ensured in which Durga killed Mahishasura and his followers.
The battle and Mahishasura’s murder are ritually performed in Kerala as "Mahishasura Vadham"
even nowadays.
"Leela", Mahishasura’s cousin decided to take revenge on Devas after
realizing the horrible death of her cousin. The Mahishi also undertook severe penance and
propitiated Lord Brahma and received a boon to the effect that she would attain her end only
by a baby who could born from "Hari" (Vishnu) and "Hara" (Siva), two male characters.
If such a baby is born, prior for he or she could kill her, must serve in a royal family
for a minimum period of twelve years in an earthly kingdom. As part of her strategy,
she attempted to provoke Devendra, the king of Devas. However, Devendra realized the danger
up-front and approached Lord Vishnu for solution. Lords Vishnu and Brahma created Datta,
a male Asura to divert the attention of Leela from Devendra. Though the trick worked out
temporarily, Devas decided to seek a permanent solution. But how could she be killed?
The question is not answered by anyone for a while.
Page 3 of 9
