- Raktavija
Raktavīja was an
asura (loosely translated as demon) who fought together withShumbha andNishumbha againstDurga andKali orChamunda . Raktavija had a boon that whenever a drop of his blood fell on the ground, a duplicate raktavija would be born at that spot ("rakta"=blood, "vīja"=seed; this is abahuvrihi orexocentric compound, "he for whom each drop of blood is a seed"). In South Indian texts, the name is sometimes written raktabhija, and in the East, it is sometimes written raktabIj.The eighth chapter of the
Devi Mahatmya , "raktavIja-vadh", focuses on Durgas battle with Raktavīja as part of her battle against the asuras Shumbha and Nishumbha, who had disenfranchised the gods from heaven. Raktavīja was wounded, but drops of blood falling on the ground created innumerable other Raktavījas, and Durga was in difficulty. At this point, the goddess created Kali, who made her tongue onto the earth, and sucked off the blood pouring from the body of Raktavīja, and devoured his duplicates with her gaping mouth. Ultimately, Raktavīja was annihilated.References
*"Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend" (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola
*Devi Mahatmya , Chapter Eight.External links
* [http://polymer.bu.edu/~scala/franci.html Demon Raktabija]
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