The Glory of the Goddess-Devi Mahatmyam

Chanda being slain, Munda also rushed at her. Striking him furiously with her sword, she
felled him too to the ground.
Seeing the most valiant Chanda and Munda vanquished, the remaining army became panicky
and fled in all directions. And Kali, holding the heads of Chanda and Munda in her hands,
approached Chandika and said, “In this sacrifice of battle, here have I brought you the heads
of Chanda and Munda the great beasts. Shumbha and Nishumbha, you shall yourself slay.”
Thereupon, seeing the two great asuras Chanda and Munda brought to her, the auspicious
Chandika, said to Kali these playful words, “As you have brought me both Chanda and
Munda, you O Devi, shall be famed in the world by the name Chamunda.
Thus ends the seventh chapter – ‘The slaying of Chanda and Munda’ - of Devi-Mahatmya in
Markandeya Purana.
Chapter 8
When Chanda and Munda were laid low and many of the battalions of the asuras destroyed,
the lord of the asuras, the mighty Sumbha, with intellect clouded by rage, commanded the
marshalling of all the asura armies. “Now, let the eighty-six Udayudhas with all their forces
and uplifted weapons, and the eighty-four Kambus, along with their own forces, set out for
battle. Let the fifty asura families of Kotiviryas and the hundred families of Dhaumras go
forth at my command. Likewise let the asura clans, Kalakas, Daurhrdas, the Mauryas and the
Kalakeyas hasten at my command and march forth ready for battle”. Issuing these orders,
Sumbha, the lord of the asuras, the cruel despot, set out surrounded thousands of huge forces.
Seeing that most terrible army advancing, Chandika filled the space between the earth and the
sky with twangs of her bow-string. Thereon her lion roared very loudly. Ambika amplified
those sounds with the clanging of the bell. Filling the quarters with roars from her gaping
mouth, Kali suffused the sounds of the bow-string, lion and bell by her terrific roars. On
hearing that roar the infuriated armies of the asuras surrounded the lion, the Goddess
(Chandika) and Kali on all the four sides. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the annihilation of
the enemies of the gods and also for the well-being of the great gods, there issued forth,
endowed with exceeding valour and strength, Shaktis from the bodies of Brahma, Shiva,
Guha, Vishnu and Indra, Whatever was the form of the Godhead, whatever his ornaments and
vehicle, in that very form his Shakti advanced to fight the asuras.
In a heavenly chariot yoked by swans came Brahma's Shakti carrying a rosary and water-pot
(kamandalu). She is called Brahmani. Maheshvari arrived, mounted on a bull, holding the
great trident, with huge serpents for bangles, with the digit of the moon as an ornament. The
mother Kaumari came in the form of Guha, riding on a fine peacock wielding the spear in her
hand, to attack the asuras. Likewise seated upon Garuda, holding conch, club, bow and sword
in hand, came Vaishnavi, the Shakti of Vishnu. Varahi, who assumed the incomparable form
of Hari as the sacrificial boar, also came. Narasmihi too arrived, assuming a form like that of
Narasmiha, half-woman and half-lioness, bringing down the constellations by the toss of her
mane. Likewise the thousand-eyed Aindri, holding a thunderbolt in hand and riding on the
lord of elephants arrived just like Indra.
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