Chapter 3 · Tṛtīyo’dhyāyaḥ (Third Chapter)
Verse 21
एवं संक्षीयमाणे तु स्वसैन्ये महिषासुरः। माहिषेण स्वरूपेण त्रासयामास तान् गणान् ॥ २१ ॥
ēvaṁ saṁkṣīyamāṇē tu svasainyē mahiṣāsuraḥ | māhiṣēṇa svarūpēṇa trāsayāmāsa tān gaṇān || 21 ||
Translation
'Thus, while his own army was being destroyed, Mahishasura, in his buffalo form, terrified those troops (of the Goddess).'
Word by word
- evam
- thus
- saṁkṣīyamāṇe
- while being destroyed
- tu
- and
- svasainye
- his own army
- mahiṣāsuraḥ
- Mahishasura
- māhiṣeṇa
- with a buffalo
- svarūpeṇa
- in his own form
- trāsayāmāsa
- terrified
- tān
- those
- gaṇān
- troops (of the Goddess)
Meaning
Seeing his forces decimated, the demon king Mahishasura finally enters the battle himself. He assumes his true, primordial form—that of a gigantic and powerful buffalo (māhiṣeṇa svarūpeṇa). His very appearance is so monstrous and intimidating that it strikes fear into the Goddess's own army.