Durga

==Legends==
[[File:Unknown (Indian) - Durga in Combat with the Bull, Mahishasura - 69.428 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg|thumb|'Durga in Combat with the Bull, Mahishasura', 19th century painting]]
The most popular legend associated with the goddess is of her killing of [[Mahishasura]]. Mahishasura was a half-buffalo demon who did severe penance in order to please [[Brahma]], the creator. After several years, Brahma, pleased with his devotion, appeared before him. The demon opened his eyes and asked the god for immortality. Brahma refused, stating that all must die one day. Mahishasura then thought for a while and asked a boon that only a woman could be able to kill him. Brahma granted the boon and disappeared. Mahishasura started to torture innocent people. He captured [[Svarga]] and was not in any kind of fear, as he thought women to be powerless and weak. The [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]] were worried and they went to [[Trimurti]]. The Trimurti combined their power, and gave a physical form to the sum of their divine energy, [[Adi Shakti]], a warrior woman with many arms. [[Himavat|Himavan]], the personification of the Himalayas, gifted a lion as her mount. Durga, on her lion, appeared before Mahishasura where the demon took on different forms and attacked the goddess. Each time, Durga would destroy his forms. At last, Durga slew Mahishasura with her trident when he was transforming as a buffalo demon.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roa|first=Subba|title=Tales of Durga|date=April 1971|publisher=Amar Chitra Katha Private Limited|isbn=81-89999-35-4|pages=25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kumar|first=Anu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snUcQGk1dZUC&q=Mahishasura&pg=PT6|title=Mahishasura: The Buffalo Demon|date=30 November 2012|publisher=Hachette India|isbn=978-93-5009-538-6|language=en|access-date=1 October 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816064146/https://books.google.com/books?id=snUcQGk1dZUC&q=Mahishasura&pg=PT6|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] tradition, Durga is among the various epithets and avatars of [[Vindhyavasini|Yogamaya]], the personification of the illusory power of Vishnu. Vishnu offers Durga the task of transferring the [[Balarama|seventh child]] of [[Devaki]] into the womb of [[Rohini (wife of Vasudeva)|Rohini]], as well as being born on earth as the infant daughter of [[Yashoda]] and [[Nanda (Hinduism)|Nanda]], so that she could be swapped with [[Krishna]]. When [[Kamsa]] attempted to slay her, she manifested her true form of an eighteen-armed goddess, wearing a garland of lemons. The goddess announced that Kamsa's slayer had already been born, before vanishing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flueckiger |first=Joyce Burkhalter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFlE0PO0x1AC&dq=durga+yogamaya&pg=PA133 |title=When the World Becomes Female: Guises of a South Indian Goddess |date=23 July 2013 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-00960-9 |pages=133 |language=en |access-date=13 September 2022 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913055607/https://books.google.com/books?id=rFlE0PO0x1AC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA133&dq=durga+yogamaya&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> Durga is often conceptualised in this role as a sister of Vishnu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Verma |first=Archana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iAArBwAAQBAJ&dq=durga+vishnu%27s+sister&pg=PA48 |title=Performance and Culture: Narrative, Image and Enactment in India |date=18 January 2011 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-2832-1 |pages=48 |language=en |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001134345/https://books.google.com/books?id=iAArBwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA48&dq=durga+vishnu%27s+sister&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref>