The Slaying of Mahiṣāsura

Whenever we think of the Goddess Durgā, the image that almost invariable comes to mind is of Her standing on her lion of Dharma with Her right foot, stepping on a buffalo with Her left foot and, spear in hand, stabbing the mustachioed villain-turned-devotee through the heart, an otherworldly smile on Her beautiful face. This image of Mā is called Mahiṣāsura-mardinī (The Slayer of the Buffalo Demon) and it is the central story of the Devī Māhātmyam in the sense that it is (a) literally, ...