News of the demon’s oppressions angered Shiva and Vishnu and luminous energy came out of this anger, Brahma and the other gods also contributed their own energies. All this energy was taken to the sage Katyayana’s hermitage and the sage added his own energy to the accumulated store. From this store of energy was fashioned a beautiful goddess named Katyayani, so named because she was born in Katyayana’s hermitage. Shiva’s energy formed her face, Agni’s her eyes, Yama’s her hair, Vishnu’s her eighteen arms. Indra’s fer waist, Varuna’s her legs, Brahma’s her feet and Surya’s her toes. The yakshas contributed the nose, the sadhyas the eyebrows, and the maruts the ears.

(The reason why a goddess had to be created does not come out clearly in the Vamana Purana . other Puranas like the Varaha Purana, the Markandeya Purana, the Kalika Purana and the Devi Bhagavata state that Mahishasura had obtained a boon from Brahma whereby he could not be killed by any male. The kalika Purana also adds that Mahishasura had disturbed Katyayana’s meditations in the form of a woman. The sage had thereupon cursed him that he would be killed by a woman.)


The gods armed the goddess with the sorts of weapons. Shiva gave her his trident (trishula). Vishnu his bladed discus (chakra). Varuna his conch-shell (shankha). Agni his spear (shakti). Vayu his bow (chapa). Surya his quiver (tuna) and arrows (shara). Indra his club (vajra), Yama his rod (danda), Kuthara). Other gods adorned her with jewellery. The Himalaya mountains gave her a lion to ride on. The gods then prayed to Katyayani for deliverance.

Thus armed by the gods. The goddess ascended her lion and left for the Vindhya mountains.

A Digression On Agastya And The Vindhya Mountains

The Vindhya mountains constituted a very long range. Many years ago, the peaks of these mountains used to tower up into the sky. But the sage Agastya made the Vindhya lower its peaks.

“How did that happen and why did Agastya lower the peaks of the Vindhya?” Narada asked of Pulastya.

Many years ago, the Vindhya raised its peaks up into the sky and obstructed the path of the sun. (Other Puranas give the reasons for this. The sage Narada went to the Vindhya and told the Vindhya that Mount Sumeru was a superior mountain. To establish its supremacy, the Vindhya raised its peaks up into the sky and obstructed the path of the sun).

How would the earth survive if the sun was not permitted to traverse the sky? The sun went to the sage Agastya and asked him to find a solution to the problem.

Agastya pretended to be an old man and appeared before Vindhya. “I am an old man,” he said. “There is a tirtha to the south that I wish to visit. It is beyond my powers to cross your peaks and travel southwards. Please lower your peaks and aid an old man”.

After Vindhya had lowered its peak, Agastya crossed over the other side and said, “ I am going to bathe in the tirtha and will return to may heritage along this very route. Please do not raise your peaks until I return. If you do not listen to me, I am going to curse you.’

Scared of the curse, Vindhya kept its peaks lowered. Agastya never returned. That is how the peaks of the Vindhya came to be so low.

Mahishasura Again

Katyaynai started to live on the Vindhya mountains.

Mahishasura had two messengers named Chanda and Munda and these two demons happened to catch sight of the goddess, they though that this beautiful woman would be the right wife for their king Mahishasura. They accordingly went and described Katyayani’s beauty to the demon-king.

These descriptions excited Mahishasura’s curiosity. He sent an army of demons to the Vindhya mountains. In this army were asura (demon) stalwarts like Chanda, Munda, Vidalasha, Kapila, Vashkala, Ugrayudha, Chikshura and Raktavija.