Mythical Roots
Durga, the demon-slaying goddess,
One day, the sage Durbasha offered a garland of part/at, the heavenly flower, to Indra. The garland had special properties of bearing the essence of Shree, or Fortune. But the king of gods, engaged in the amorous company of the beautiful courtesan Rambha, playfully placed the garland on his mount Airavat’s forehead. The tusker straightaway hurled it to the ground and trampled on it. This slight infuriated Durbasha and he cursed Indra that he be rid of his Shree, which was embodied in Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, well-being and prosperity So Swargalaxmi left the gods and merged with Mahalaxmi, her idealised manifestation in Vaikuntha.
At this, the gods lost their splendour and the universe was cast in gloom. In the midst of this, the demons struck, driving the weakened gods away from heaven.
The gods (locked to Vishnu in despair. Lord Vishnu, the protector of Creation, requested his consort Mahalaxmi, the idealised manifestation of the goddess, to be born as the daughter of Khirod Sagar. The gods were advised to churn the sea and reinstate Laxmi in heaven. Thus started the mammoth operation, for which the gods sought help from the demons, promising them a share of nectar, the immortality potion, which was also resting in the depths.
After the first few churnings that yielded the great poison holahol (requiring Lord Shiva to swallow the entire store and rescue the universe from its noxious fumes) and sundry other miraculous items, Laxmi emerged. She chose Vishnu as her consort and settled down in Vaikuntha.
In another account, when Krishna was lost in the ecstasy of a dance in his youth, a figure of supreme beauty emerged at his side. She split herself into Radha and Laxmi. While Radha stayed back on earth with Krishna, Laxmi retired to the heavens to be with Lord Vishnu.
Yet another account describes Laxmi as the product of the union of Sage Bhrigu and his wife Khyati. There is a use of imagery here. Bhrigu denotes a high standing while Khyati is fame: The confluence of the two creates wealth.
Mahishasura: The buffalo-demon
According to the Bhagabatpurana, the brothers Rambha and Karambha were both childless. Aspiring for a child, they started a long and rigorous meditation. While Rambha sat amid blazing flames, Karambha immersed himself in neck- deep water. Indra, the king of the gods, became worried at the intensity of their meditation, lest they win the right to rule the heavens by their piety. So he took the garb of a crocodile and devoured Karambha. Rambha went on with his ascetic rites but when nothing yielded fruit, he tried to chop his own head as sacrifice to the fire. This appeased Shiva who appeared and offered Rambha a boon. Rambha prayed that Shiva himself be born as his son in three successive births. The son would be conquerer of the gods, more spirited than fire, celebrated, truthful, long-living, and possessor of all treasure. Shiva agreed and Rambha returned, joyful at having gained immortality through an illustrious line. On the way, he saw a handsome, healthy buffalo. This buffalo was Mahismati, daughter of the sage Biprachitti. A willful girl, she had taken the guise of a buffalo and scared sage Sindhudweep so much that his long meditation was disturbed. The angry sage had cursed Mahismati that she be locked in the buffalo’s body. This is the buffalo that Rambha saw wandering in the forest. He fell in love with Mahismati and married her. Mahishasura was the product of their union.
The unity of power
Though Laxmi and Saraswati are seen as two daughters of Durga, there are no specific myths describing them as such, as there are for Ganesha amid Kartik. Rather, the scriptures often refer to them as other forms of the one Female Power. ‘Shree Shree Chandi’, the section of Markandeyapurana, which dwells at great length on Durga, sees this power manifest in three faces—Mahakali (the great Kali), Mahalaxmi (the great Laxmi) and Mahasaraswati (the great Saraswati). Here Mahalaxmi is the one who takes on Mahishasura.
That all the female forms are one is clearly stated by the Devi herself in the Shumba-Nishumba myth. Locked in combat with demon-king Shumba, she was conducting raids on the enemy’s army in multiple female forms. The demon complained that there was no glory in victory gained with help from so many quarters. She told him that there was no power in the Universe other than her. The demon king beheld with amazement how all the female forms with different appellations and appearances, that were so long waging war separately, melted into her one by one.