The gifts, and the laughter

In this episode

• Each god gives the Devi a gift; Himavat gives a lion to carry her.
• Her laughter and her roar fill the worlds, and the gods call out in joy.
• Mahishasura's great host comes towards her, and she meets them without fear.

Read along

Namaste, and welcome to the fourth night of Navratri. We are almost halfway now. If the days have been busy, let this be the slow part. Sit back. One breath, in, and out.

Last night, the gods had lost everything. Mahishasura had taken the heavens and all their duties. So the gods, with Brahma ji at their head, went to Bhagavan Vishnu and Bhagavan Shiva. As they listened, Vishnu and Shiva were filled with a deep anger at the wrong that had been done, and a great light came out of them. Then light came out of every god. All of it gathered into one blaze, and the blaze became the Devi. Each part of her was made from the light of a different god.

Tonight, the gods give her their gifts.

**

Think of how it is when someone dear comes home after a long time. Everyone wants to give something. Not because she needs it, but because giving is how love speaks.

That is how the sage tells this part. The Devi stood before them, shining, and one by one the gods came forward.

**

**Bhagavan Shiva** and **Bhagavan Vishnu** each drew something out of what they themselves carried, and gave her a share of it. As if to say, what is mine is now yours as well.

**Varuna**, lord of the waters, gave her a **conch**. When it is blown, the sound travels over every ocean.

**Indra**, king of the gods, gave her a **bell**, taken from his own great elephant, **Airavata**. Its sound was clear and bright.

**Brahma ji** gave her a **rosary** and a **water-pot**, the things a sage keeps close in prayer.

**Surya**, the sun, filled every pore of her skin with his own rays, so that she shone like the morning.

The **ocean of milk** gave her a necklace of pearls that never lose their shine, and fresh garments that would never wear out. It gave her a jewel for her crown, earrings, bangles, a bright crescent for her forehead, armlets, anklets, and rings for every finger.

The **ocean** also gave her a garland of lotuses that would never fade, for her head and her breast, and a beautiful lotus to hold in her hand.

**Kubera**, the keeper of riches, gave her a cup that was always full.

**Shesha**, the great serpent who holds up the earth, gave her a necklace set with great jewels.

And **Himavat**, the king of the mountains, gave her many precious stones. And he gave her a **lion**, to carry her.

**

Every other god, too, gave her something. And the sage says she was honoured by them all.

So now picture her. Made of the light of all the gods. Adorned with the gifts of all the gods. Seated on a lion from the high Himalaya.

**

And then the Devi laughed.

It was not a small laugh. It was a great, ringing laugh that rose up out of her, again and again. It filled the sky. It echoed off the mountains and rolled across the seas. Then she gave a mighty roar, and that too filled every direction. The sage says the whole sky was full of that sound, and it went on echoing, without end.

The worlds trembled. The earth shook. The oceans rose and stirred. The mountains swayed.

But the gods were not afraid. They were full of joy. They called out to her, "Victory to you!" The great sages bowed low and praised her.

**

Far away, in the heavens he had taken, Mahishasura heard it.

Everyone around him heard it. What was that sound? Who could laugh like that, so that the whole of creation shook?

Mahishasura was angry. He rose at once. And the sage tells us he gathered his whole host, countless asuras, and they came rushing towards the sound, to see who had dared.

**

And there she was.

Her light was filling all three worlds. The sage says her feet pressed down so that the earth bent beneath them. Her crown seemed to touch the sky. Even the lowest worlds stirred at the sound of her moving. Her thousand arms reached out to every direction.

Mahishasura's host stood before her. There were so many of them, the sage says, that they could not be counted. Their great chiefs stood at the front, each one proud, each one sure of himself.

They came towards her.

And the Devi met them.

She did not step back. She did not hurry. She was calm, as calm as the light of a lamp in a still room. And from her very breath, the sage says, companions appeared at her side, many hundreds and thousands of them, and they too stood without fear.

**

One by one, the great chiefs of Mahishasura came before her. One by one, they found that nothing they tried could move her. She met each of them, and each of them was overcome. The lion beneath her stood firm.

And at last, across that wide field, Mahishasura himself began to come forward, in the form of a huge buffalo, his hooves striking the ground.

**

And that is where we stop tonight. The Devi stands, calm and smiling. Mahishasura is coming.

Tomorrow, on the fifth night, he will change his shape again and again, trying to find some form that can stand against her. And we will hear what the gods say to her, when it is over.

But keep tonight's question with you. When something huge comes towards you in life, something that seems to have no end, what helps you stay as calm as she did? Perhaps it is remembering everything you have been given, by everyone who ever loved you.

**

This narration uses an AI voice. The story is retold from the Devi Mahatmya by the DharmikStudio team.

Keep going

• Listen: The gifts, and the laughter
• Previous: One light from many
• Next: Courage that does not change shape
• All episodes of Devi Mahatmya: nine nights, nine stories