Aum Mahashaktyai Namaha!

8

Tripurasundari

Ya Devi sarvabhuteshu, trishna rupena samsthita,

Namasthasyai, namasthasyai, namasthasyai namo namaha!

O Goddess who resides in all creatures in the form of thirst,

Hail to thee, hail to thee, all hail to thee!

Seeing the asura hosts marching toward them, one of Lalitha’s generals, Sampatkari, along with her shaktis, offered to meet them. When Durmada, the general of Bhanda’s army, found that he was being beaten by Lalitha’s general, he decided to confront her himself. He was riding on an enormous camel, while Sampatkari was on an elephant. A bitter battle was fought, and Durmada jumped onto the elephant and wrested the crown jewel from Sampatkari’s tiara, much to the delight of his followers. But their mirth was short-lived, since she then smote him on the head and killed him in one stroke.

Bhanda was astonished to hear of this and commanded one of his best generals, Kuranda, to wreak vengeance on Sampatkari. Kuranda was an expert in creating illusions, but another shakti called Aparajita killed him in no time.

Bhanda now sent five commanders with a huge army that created an illusion in which thousands of reptiles swarmed over the goddess’s militia and harassed them sorely. At last Lalitha’s army hymned Lord Vishnu’s vehicle, called Garuda, which was an enormous eagle that was the enemy of all snakes, and thus they overcame the illusion created by the reptiles and killed all five commanders.

Bhanda was dumbfounded and sent the seven great warriors known as the Balahaka brothers to meet the opposing army. They enveloped the shakti army in total darkness, but the shakti known as Tirasankaranika caused all seven brothers to become blind and thus killed them easily.

This news totally paralyzed Bhanda, and he realized that the opposing host was not to be trifled with. He called a secret war council and ordered his general Visunga to attack the army from the rear, for he had heard that Lalitha was stationed at the back and he felt that if she were captured, the others would be demoralized. The army left without music or any outward show and stealthily crept behind the camp, where Chakraraja, Lalitha’s own chariot, was stationed. In the meantime another general approached from the front and fought a battle with the shaktis who were positioned there. Lalitha soon came to know of the attack from the rear; she went forth as Kameswari and put Visunga to the sword. This battle was fought in the night, and by dawn the whole asura host had been routed.

Lalitha’s army now decided that it had to protect itself from all sides, since the asuras were up to all types of unrighteous acts like creeping up from the back and fighting in the night. So the whole army settled in a camp encircled by a garland of fire made by the shakti known as Jwalamalini. Lalitha’s chariot was kept in the center, flanked by the chariots Geyachakra and Kirichakra.

Hearing about these preparations, Bhanda asked his own sons, who were thirty in number, to proceed to the front and to take Lalitha alive by hook or by crook. The expedition set out with great enthusiasm. When this news reached the shakti camp, Lalitha’s nine-year-old daughter Kumari, sometimes known as Bala, begged to be allowed to fight the sons of the demon chief. Lalitha demurred, but she gave in reluctantly when she saw that the child was adamant. She gave the child her own armor and weapons. Bala set forth in Chakraraja with Mantrini and Dandanatha on either side. She fought with great skill and dexterity and was untired even though the battle went on for two days. Everyone was surprised at the ease with which Kumari vanquished the enemy. Finally she defeated and killed all of them by sending the powerful astra (missile) known as the Narayanastra—the weapon of Lord Narayana (Vishnu).

Bhanda was heartbroken when he heard of the death of his sons, but he rallied and ordered another general to go forth immediately. When the general saw the ring of fire that protected Lalitha’s camp, he threw a yantra into the camp, creating laziness and sloth in the minds of the shaktis. Mantrini and Dandanatha alone were not overcome with lassitude, and they reported the matter to Lalitha. She immediately deputed Ganesha, her elephant-headed son, to go forth and counteract the effects of this yantra. He did this so successfully that Lalitha granted him the boon than any ritual done to any deity should begin with the worship of Ganesha.

Next Bhanda sent his two brothers to war. Dandanatha and Mantrini fought with the two of them and slew them. Bhanda was wild with rage when he heard this and decided to go himself. All the remaining males in the city were mustered, and Bhanda marched forth with them to meet the mother of the world. A mighty battle ensued in which Lalitha countered every missile that Bhanda sent with its countercorrelative. For example, when he sent a fire missile she would counter with one carrying water, which would put out the fire, and so forth. Thus we find that in the Sahasranama she is invoked as Bhanda-surendra nirmukta, sastrapratyastra varshini, which means “she who countered all Bhanda’s weapons with their opposites.” Despite this many of her shaktis fell to Bhanda’s missiles, and Lalitha was pained to see this.

She created a shakti called Yashaswini who was given weapons by all the gods. Yashaswini rode on a lion and plunged into battle with terrific war cries. Bhanda did not lose heart. He called forth all the great asuras of yore, starting with Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana, and Kamsa. Lalitha retaliated by calling all the avataras of Vishnu, from the boar to Rama, Krishna, and Kalki. Then she asked Kameswara (Shiva) for his weapon, the great arrow called Paasupata, and with this the whole army of the asuras was decimated. This gave rise to another appellation for the goddess in the Sahasranama: Mahapaasupatastragni, nirdaghtasura sainaka, meaning “she who destroyed the whole army of the demon with the great arrow known as the Paasupata.” Bhanda was undaunted and fought on by himself. At last Lalitha slew him with the Mahakameswarastra, the missile of pure divine love of her husband, Kameswara. This led to yet another appellation in the Sahasranama: Kameswarastra nirdagdha sa Bhandasura sainika, meaning “she who slew the buffalo demon with the weapon of divine love given to her by her husband Kameswara.”

Thus the object of the avatara of the Divine Mother as Lalitha was fulfilled, and the gods rejoiced and praised her.

Let us examine the esoteric significance of this battle. It is not just a bloodthirsty war, as one might imagine. Bhanda represents the reproductive energy of nature gone wild. He is a caricature of Kama, the god of love. In him the sacred magnetism of love is used to manipulate and destroy. It is no longer love but lust—lust for power and for self-aggrandizement. You will find that even the greatest of sages have been overcome by this Bhandasura—this demon in the form of lust for power and sex. Every stage of the battle represents a stage in spiritual purification. The battle is an allegorical representation of the march of the human soul from bestiality to humanity and thence to divinity. The shaktis are the various divine forces within us, which the Divine Mother gives us in order to overcome the negativity that tries to bring us down again and again. Even with the most sincere will in the world, many spiritual aspirants find that they fall prey to all types of difficulties. Most of these come from within their own mind. The external enemies are easier to overcome. For instance, one of Bhanda’s tricks was to induce lassitude and laziness among the shaktis. Such feelings are common among sadhakas (those who practice spiritual disciplines). Bhanda’s forces of tamas try to tell the aspiring sadhaka that it is not necessary to strive so hard. Why not go back to sleep for a few more minutes? Why should we be so disciplined? Here we find that only the two supreme shaktis, Dandanatha, representing breath control, and Mantrini, representing the power of the mantra, were strong enough to overcome this. So obviously the advice for all aspirants is to resort to pranayama (breath control) or to sit down and start vigorous chanting of the mantra to help us overcome laziness.

Next we find that Lalitha calls Ganesha to come to her aid. So too, when we feel we are failing in our spiritual determination, can we call upon Lord Ganesha to remove the obstacles in our way. He represents firm determination and good humor. If our mind is resolute and we can keep up a sense of humor, we will be able to proceed on our path.

Bhanda’s attack by producing darkness over the camp is an allegory for the darkness of ignorance and despair that might assail the mind of the sadhaka now and again. The sincere seeker is asked to practice pranayama to ward off this evil. Mantrini and Dandanatha are Lalitha’s most trusted generals. They are constantly alert and trying to repair and reinforce the weak points of the army. So we find that the chanting of the mantra and pranayama should be practiced diligently every day, and this will help us control our minds and overcome our weaknesses.

The two of them protect the whole campus while Jwalamalini created a ring of fire. Likewise, command of the mantra and the power provided by pranayama can indeed build around us a ring of fire that will protect us at all times. Meditating yogis and evolved souls at the time of death often experience this ring of fire or a shining globe, which seems to be surrounding the highest truth. Only yogis are supposed to be able to pass through this inner sun and proceed on their onward journeys. (The Bhagavad Gita, in fact, mentions that the departing yogi has to pierce the orb of the sun.)

Lalitha’s daughter Bala is an allegory for all who consider the divine to be our own mother. We will be allowed to fight for the cause of righteousness and justice if we so wish. She will provide us with every aid, including her own armor and accoutrements, to protect us and help us pass all the spiritual tests enumerated in this battle. We are all children of the Divine Mother, and she loves us more than we are capable of realizing. In the chariot of our body, we ride into the battle of life protected by two shaktis of our Divine Mother, who will never leave our side.

In the final stage of the battle, when Lalitha herself comes to confront Bhanda, we find that she destroys each of his astras with its opposite or countercorrelative. He dispatches missiles of fear, illness, materialism, apathy, and neglect of sacred teachings. She counters them with the missiles of courage, health, spiritual insight, compassion, and the countless avataras like Krishna and Rama who put us on the right path. Finally Bhanda dispatches the missile known as Mahamoha or the supreme delusion. This is the delusion that makes us believe that sacred and secular are different—that everything exists by itself without any necessity for the divine, unsupported by God.

Lalitha blasts this view as well as Bhanda himself by the Mahakameswarastra, the missile of pure divine love that none can gainsay. Thus the most powerful force in the universe—the power of divine love—kills Bhanda, who represents selfish lust, borne from the ashes of love. Bhanda’s capital city, Sonitapura, sometimes called Shunyaka, is also destroyed. Shunya means “zero” or “nothingness.” This citadel that the power-hungry, lusty ego builds for itself is nothing but emptiness, for it does not recognize the divine truth of an all-embracing love. Bhanda’s boon—that he would be able to drain half the energy of his opponent—worked in all cases except this one. Lalitha is the fullness of the infinite, and the truth is that you can never deplete the infinite even if you keep taking from it. The Veda says, “Poornamada poornamidam, poornath poornamudachyathe, poornasya, poornamadaya, poornamevaavashishyathe.” (That is full and this is also full. If you take away the full from the full, fullness alone will remain.)

After the battle, all the gods appeared to eulogize Lalitha as Tripurasundari, the most beautiful in all the three worlds. They begged her to restore to life Kama, the god of love, and make Rati happy and bless him with success in his second endeavor with Lord Shiva. They wanted Shiva to marry Parvati and thus get a son—Kumara, who alone would be able to vanquish the great demon Taraka. Lalitha brought Kama to her mind and immediately Rati felt her husband materialize beside her. Lalitha blessed him with power to roam about the world creating love in the hearts of all. She also commanded him to go to Shiva and promised him that this time his arrow would not fail, and so it came to pass that Shiva opened his eyes just as Kama’s flower-tipped arrow pierced his heart. Just at that moment he saw Parvati and fell in love with her.

A nature throbbing with a heart divine

Was felt in the unconscious universe;

It made the breath a happy mystery,

And brought a love sustaining pain with joy;

A love that bore the cross of pain with joy

Eudaemonised the sorrow of the world.

—SAVITRI BY SRI AUROBINDO

Thus ends the eighth chapter of Shakti, known as “Tripurasundari,” describing the battle with Bhandasura and his demise.

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