53. 21 Sep / 05 Ashwin

The very scene of this destruction of his world-conquering army was making Mahishasur enraged to no end. He took the form of an enormous male buffalo - his "mahisha" form - and charged at the Ganas who were created by Devi.

54. He started annihilating the Gana army - some by biting, some by kicking of his hoofs, some by lashing of his tail, some by impaling on his sharp horns, some by the loudness of his bellow, and some by burning of his fiery breath!

55. Finishing the Gana army, he charged directly towards Devi. With his level view, he focused on Her Lion. The thunderous crack of his hoofs on the ground created a tremor across the battle field. Mountains shook and fell.

56. His enormous tail splashed on the ocean, and brought forth a deluge to drown everything around. His stature was such that his horns tore through the clouds, and with every breath of his it felt like the earth and sky were breaking into hundreds of pieces.

57. Devi Chandika trembled with anger. She threw the Paash and bound him down. Immediately, He discarded his mahisha form and changed into a lion. Devi's sword decapitated the lion, and then he turned into his humanoid form, and vanished.

58. Devi's divine arrows shred through his illusion, and his shield shattered. He then turned into an elephant and charged back. The muscular trunk of the elephant grabbed hold of the Lion and squeezed hard, trying to expel the life breath out of him.

59. Devi swung Her sword again, and cut his proboscis. (Yes, long before Surpanakha, some other nose was cut in our Puranic literature!) Injured severely, he again changed form into that of an immense buffalo, who very looks terrified the three worlds!

60. Maa looked enraged & ecstatic at the same time. She stood in the middle of the battle field, and drank sura from Her inexhaustible goblet that was a gift from Kubera, with a stern gaze thrown at Mahishasura. He was furious, and lifted mountains up and threw them at the Devi.

61. Her arrows broke those mountains in seconds, and she shouted back, "Every effort of yours in this battle is in vain. The last moments of your life that you can cherish are those that are spent by me in drinking this sura. Then, your end will come by my hands."

62. Relentless, Mahishasura charged again at Devi. She struck him down with Her Trishul, and held him down with one feet. With Her divine touch, his face started to change back... from the buffalo to the humanoid. Devi was aglow with a blinding effulgence.

63. But nothing deterred the asura king, and he kept fighting with his half-transformed humanoid upper torso. The final blow from Devi's sword finished the story of Mahishashura - his head fell off his shoulders in one sharp swing of the iron.

64. Devas applauded, Rishis praised Her glory, Gandharvas sang, and Apsaras danced. The annihilation of evil was complete. Dharma was restored back across the three worlds.

Next up... one of the most difficult bits for me to thread! :)