Durga Saptashati Chapter 6: The Slaying of Dhumralochana

Chapter 6 is short, but its message is large: a single syllable from the Goddess is enough to burn evil to ash.

Shumbha's anger

The messenger returned and told Shumbha everything the Goddess had said. Furious, Shumbha said to his general Dhumralochana: "Take your army, go and drag that wicked woman here by her hair. If anyone comes to protect her, god, yaksha or gandharva, kill him too."

Dhumralochana attacks

Dhumralochana reached the Himalaya with sixty thousand asuras and, seeing the Goddess, shouted: "Come quietly with me to Shumbha and Nishumbha, or I will drag you there by your hair."

The Goddess calmly said: "You are sent by the king of the asuras, you are strong yourself and have an army with you. If you take me by force, what can I do to you?"

A single "hum"

Hearing this, Dhumralochana rushed at her. Ambika simply uttered the syllable "hum", and by that alone Dhumralochana was burned to ash.

Seeing this, the asura army in fury rained sharp arrows, spears and axes on the Goddess. Then her lion, shaking its mane and roaring terribly, fell upon the army. It killed some with its paws, some with its jaws, crushed some under its feet and tore open the chests of others with its claws. In a short while the whole army was destroyed.

Shumbha's next command

Hearing that Dhumralochana was dead and his army destroyed, Shumbha's anger grew. He ordered two mighty asuras, Chanda and Munda: "Take a great army, seize that woman by the hair or bind her and bring her here quickly. If that cannot be done, kill her with all weapons and all the asuras. When she is wounded and her lion killed, bind her and bring her."

What this chapter teaches

• True power needs no display; there was such power in one word of the Goddess.
• Dhumralochana, the smoky-eyed, stands for confusion and clouded vision; one note of truth clears it.
• The arrogance of dragging anyone by force, especially a woman, is the gravest wrong, and its end is certain.
• Great power is held to lie in the seed syllables of mantras such as "hum"; chant with faith.