The Asura king Rambha, consumed by desire, coupled with a she-buffalo and from that union Mahishasura was born — half-demon, half-beast — inheriting his father's strength and his mother's form, destined to conquer the three worlds in his terrible buffalo shape.
Durga slew the buffalo demon Mahishasura after nine days of ferocious battle — she pinned him with her foot as he shifted from his buffalo form and drove her trident through his chest, ending the demon king's tyranny over the three worlds.
The Asura race counts among its ranks the mightiest adversaries of the gods — Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha, the invulnerable Daitya brothers who seized heaven and earth; Bali, the generous king who conquered Indra's realm; Vritra, the drought-serpent who swallowed the cosmic waters; and Mahishasura, the shape-shifting buffalo demon who drove the Devas from their thrones.
Mahishasura performed severe austerities until Brahma appeared and granted him a boon — that no god or man could kill him. Armed with this invincibility, the buffalo demon drove the Devas from heaven and seized Indra's throne, compelling the gods to pool their power and create the goddess Durga as the one being outside the boon's protection.
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