UMA MARRIES LORD SHIVA
Lord Vishnu, Brahma, the deities and the Ganas were pleased to hear about Shiva’s marriage. Lord Shiva went to his abode- Kailash Mountain to make preparations for the marriage ceremony.
Lord Shiva’s marriage procession proceeded towards Himalaya Mountain. His appearance was quite terrifying with a tiger skin around his waist and Gorochan Tilak on his forehead. He had a garland of skulls around his neck. Snakes were coiling all around his body. His mount- Vrishabh (ox) was walking in a majestic way. The marriage procession comprised of the deities, Yakshas, demons and his Ganas. Lord Vishnu had Goddess Lakshmi by his side and was mounted on Garud (eagle) while Lord Brahma was mounted on Hans (swan).
When the marriage procession reached its destination, Himalaya received his esteemed guests with great honour and guided them to his palace. The womenfolk envied Uma as they glanced at the handsome appearance of Lord Shiva. Uma was looking divinely beautiful in her white coloured silken apparel. At last, both the bride and the bridegroom entered the canopy where the marriage ceremony was supposed to be performed.
Himalaya placing Uma’s hand in Shiva’s, requested him to accept her as his wife. Lord Shiva said- “O king of the mountains! Despite being homeless, I agree to accept your daughter as my wife.” After that, both Shiva and Uma tied the nuptial knot and circumambulated the sacred fire for three times. Both of them made offerings to the sacred fire. As Uma touched Shiva’s feet, Lord Brahma got a chance to have a glimpse of her beautiful face. He was so infatuated by her divine beauty that he ejaculated. Nobody except Lord Shiva was aware of this incident. Lord Brahma tried to conceal his ejaculated sperms (Veerya) under the soil. But Lord Shiva prohibited him from doing so and said- “Don’t destroy this Virya. From it would manifest 80,000 Baalkhilyas.”
Lord Shiva’s prophesies came true and in a very short time, 80,000 Baalkhilyas appeared there. Lord Shiva then returned to Mandaar Parvat accompanied by his consort, Uma.
VISHWAKARMA CONSTRUCTS A PALACE
After reaching Mandaar Mountain, Lord Shiva instructed Vishwakarma to construct a home. Vishwakarma constructed a spacious home for Shiva, which was spread in the area of 64 Yojans. The home was decorated with Swastika symbols and its walls were made of gold.
One day, Lord Shiva jokingly referred to Uma as Kali because of her dark complexion. But Uma did not take his comments lightly and told Shiva that she was going to the Himalayas to do her penance so that he did not dare to call her by that name again. Thus, Uma went to Himalaya Mountain and commenced her penance. Standing on one feet, she engaged herself in severe penance. One day, a lion arrived and seeing Uma standing on one feet, waited patiently for the moment when she would lose her balance and fall into its clutches. Uma continued with her penance for one hundred years by continuously chanting the sacred Brahma mantra. Pleased by her devotion, Lord Brahma appeared before her and asked what she wished for. Uma first of all requested him to bless the lion with immense power. She then requested him to bless her with a golden complexion. Lord Brahma blessed her and disappeared. She abandoned her dark complexioned skin from which manifested Kaushiki. Now, her complexion turned golden due to Lord Brahma’s blessings. Indra appeared before her and sought her permission to take Kaushiki along with him. Uma gave her consent without any hesitation.
Indra took Kaushiki to Vindhya Mountain and requested her to stay there. He said- “You would become famous as Vindhya Vaasini and would be revered even by the deities.” He presented a lion to her and went back to his abode. On the other hand, Uma returned to Mandaar Mountain and lived happily. Lord Shiva became so deeply attached to her that he forgot about his duties and as a result of which, the whole world became disturbed. The deities became scared by this development and went to seek Lord Brahma’s advice.
Lord Brahma went to Mandaar Mountain accompanied by all the deities. They tried to enter Shiva’s abode but Nandi- Shiva’s mount did not let them in. Helpless, all of them waited eagerly for the time Shiva would come out. Agni seeing rows of swans coming out from Shiva’s abode disguised himself as a swan and thus managed to get inside. He went near Lord Shiva and said- “O lord! The deities are anxiously waiting for you outside. How come, you are not aware of this?” Lord Shiva immediately got up and ran towards the deities.
Indra and other deities were scared at the prospect of losing heaven to Lord Shiva’s progeny. So, they requested Lord Shiva not to procreate any child from Uma. Lord Shiva agreed but asked them as to who was capable of holding his out-flowing sperms. Agni came forward and swallowed each drop of Shiva’s sperm. Satisfied, the deities left. Lord Shiva went inside and told everything to Uma. She became furious and cursed the deities that they too would remain sonless just like her.
One day before taking her bath, Uma applied Ubtan (mixture of sandalwood, turmeric etc.) on her body. She then peeled off the paste from her body and made an elephant-headed image from it. Maalini, her companion assisted her in taking bath. Maalini was smiling all the while as Uma was taking her bath. Uma became curious and wanted to know the reason of her strange smile. Maalini told Uma about her firm belief that one day, she (Uma) would definitely become a mother. Uma told her that this was impossible as the deities had prohibited her husband, Shiva from procreating a child. But Maalini continued to smile. After taking her bath, Uma went back home.
After sometime, Lord Shiva arrived and took his bath at the same place. The elephant-headed image created by Uma was lying there. Suddenly it became alive and started making a hissing sound from his trunk. Lord Shiva delightfully took him to Uma and said- “Look at your son.” Uma was surprised to see that elephant-headed image alive and affectionately embraced him. Lord Shiva again said- “Your son will become famous as Vinayak and the whole world would worship him.” Lord Shiva then entrusted the task of child’s security to Ghatodar.
Thus, both Lord Shiva and Uma lived happily. The same Uma later on took incarnation as Goddess Katyayani and killed the demons- Shumbh and Nishumbh.
KILLING OF NISHUMBH AND SHUMBH
Shumbh and Nishumbh were sons of Danu. They wanted to avenge Mahishasura’s death and sent many demons like to bring Goddess Chandika after enslaving her. First of all, Sugreev was sent followed by Dhumralochan but both of them were killed by the Goddess. When Shumbh and Nishumbh heard of their death, they were infuriated. Nishumbh attacked the goddess with a huge army. Shumbh attacked from the other side. In the fierce battle, Goddess Chandika broke Nishumbh’s sword as well as his shield. Nishumbh then attacked Goddess Chandika with his weapon- Shakti. Goddess Chandika broke it with her Chakra. At last, she attacked him with her arrows at him and as a result, Nishumbh got injured and fell.
When Shumbh saw Nishumbh, injured and unconscious, he ran towards Goddess Chandika to kill her. Goddess Chandika blew her conch and made a thunderous noise by pulling the bowstring. Shumbh released the dangerous weapon- Ugradipti in the direction of Goddess Chandika. But her weapon Maholkanaamni destroyed it. Shumbh thundered loudly and attacked Goddess Chandika with a volley of arrows but none could cause any harm to her. Finally, Goddess Chandika attacked Shumbh with her trident. Shumbh fell down unconscious. After sometime, he regained his consciousness and attacked Goddess Chandika with his arrows. But she destroyed all the arrows. In the meantime, Nishumbh had regained his consciousness. He got up and attacked Goddess Chandika with his trident. In the end, Goddess Chandika killed Nishumbh by piercing her trident in his heart. As Nishumbh was dying, an another demon manifested from his body. Even he was killed by her. Her mount Simha devoured all the dead demons.
Shumbh became angry at the death of his brother- Nishumbh. He furiously told the goddess- “O wicked lady! Do not be proud of your strength borrowed from others.” Goddess Chandika replied- “O wicked demon! I am the only power of this whole universe. I am the origin of cause and effect. Look! All the divinities are entering into my body.
The next moment, all the divine entities, which had earlier manifested from the bodies of the deities united with the goddess. Now, the goddess was alone. A tremendous battle was fought between Goddess Chandika and Shumbh. Ambika attacked him with numerous divine weapons. But, Shumbh neutralised her attack with his own weapons.
Shumbh covered the whole body of Goddess Chandika with his arrows. She broke his bow. After this, Shumbh attacked her with his weapon- Shakti, which was broken into pieces by her chakra. Now, Shumbh took out his sword and attacked her with it. She broke his shield and sword with her arrows. Shumbh then attacked her with his mace. Even his mace was broken into pieces.
Shumbh had no more weapons left with him. He hit the goddess on her breast with his clenched fist. She slapped him so hard on the face that he fell down. The next moment, he got up and manifested himself in the sky. Now, a tremendous duel was fought between them in the sky.
In the end, she dashed him to the ground and pierced the trident in his heart. Shumbh was instantly killed. After the killing of Shumbh, Gandharvas, the deities and Apsaras were so pleased that they danced and rejoiced. The whole atmosphere echoed with the sound- “SHANTI SHANTI” (Let there be peace).
After goddess Chandika killed Shumbh, all the deities under the leadership of Indra and Agni started eulogising her- “O Goddess! Be pleased upon us! Protect the whole world, as you are the goddess of this whole universe. You appear in the form of this earth- the base on which everything is situated. Your light illuminates all the living creatures. You are the only power through which creation, nurturing and annihilation takes place. You are the Brahmani, Maheshwari and the Kaumari. We salute you because you have protected us from the terror of the demons. We need your protection from all the calamities of this world.”
Goddess Chandika was very pleased by their eulogy. She asked them for any wish. The deities said- “O Akhileshwari! We need your protection. Clear all the obstacles from our path. Eliminate our enemies.”
Goddess Chandika replied- “During Vaivasvat Manavantar, I will take incarnation from Yashoda’s womb- the wife of Nand, to kill the demons Shumbh and Nishumbh. After that, I will kill the demon- Vaiprachit in my most aggressive form. One hundred years later, I will manifest myself and would be known as Satakshi because of my hundred eyes. My next incarnation would be known as Shakambhari because I would nurture the whole world during the period of drought. I will kill the demon Durgam during that drought period. I will kill the demon Arun- the tormentor of all the three worlds by taking the form of a bee. Due to this, I will be known as Bhramari. I will take incarnations every time the demons torment the world.
Goddess Chandika says- “I will clear all the obstacles from the path of such a man who worships me. If a devotee listens to the great tales of how I killed Mahishasura, Shumbh and Nishumbh, on the eighth, ninth and fourteenth days of any month then he would be liberated from poverty and all his sins. He would become free from fear. A devotee must listen to my divine tales during all the religious ceremonies like making sacrifice, worship and performing Yagya. By doing this, all his enemies will be eliminated. A man who remembers me when faced with dangerous situations remains protected by me.”
After blessing the deities, Goddess Chandika disappeared from their sight. All the demons, who had survived after the killings of Shumbh and Nishumbh, went to the nether world to save their lives.
