King Suratha of the Chaitra dynasty loses his kingdom to the Kolavidhvansis and his wealth to his own ministers. He rides his horse into the forest and finds the ashram of Sage Medhas. There he meets Samadhi, a merchant cast out by his wife and sons. Both men are sad and still attached to the families that betrayed them. They ask Sage Medhas why they suffer from this attachment. Medhas tells them it is the work of Mahamaya, who clouds the minds of men but also gives freedom. He tells them three stories of her power.
At the end of a cycle, the world is water. Vishnu ji sleeps on the serpent Shesha. From the dirt of his ears, two asuras named Madhu and Kaitabha are born. They see Brahma sitting on the lotus that grows from Vishnu ji's navel and threaten to kill him. Brahma sings to Yoganidra, the Devi as Vishnu ji's sleep, to wake him.
She leaves Vishnu ji's eyes and arms. Vishnu ji wakes and fights the two asuras barehanded for five thousand years. Clouded by Mahamaya, the asuras offer Vishnu ji a boon. He asks that they die by his hands. Seeing water everywhere, they tell him to kill them where the earth is not covered by water. Vishnu ji puts their heads on his thighs and cuts them off with his chakra.
A war lasts a hundred years between the gods led by Indra and the asuras led by Mahishasura. Mahishasura wins and takes heaven. The gods go to Shiv ji and Vishnu ji. Anger comes from the faces of Vishnu ji, Shiv ji, Brahma, and all the gods. This light gathers into one and becomes Durga Maa.
The gods give her their weapons. Shiv ji gives a trident, Vishnu ji a chakra, Varuna a conch, Vayu a bow and arrows, Indra a thunderbolt, Yama his staff, Kala, who is Time, a sword and a shield, and Himavan gives a lion. Durga Maa roars. Mahishasura sends his armies. Durga Maa and her lion kill the generals Chikshura, Chamara, Udagra, and Baskala.
Mahishasura attacks in his buffalo form. Durga Maa throws her noose over him. He turns into a lion. She cuts off the lion's head. He turns into a man with a sword. She pierces the man. He turns into an elephant and grabs her lion with his trunk. She cuts the trunk. He turns back into a buffalo and throws mountains at her. Durga Maa drinks wine, laughs, leaps onto his back, and pins his neck with her foot. As he tries to come out of the buffalo's mouth, she cuts off his head with her sword. She tells the gods she will come to their rescue whenever they remember her.
The asura brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha take the three worlds and strip the gods of their shares. The gods go to the Himalayas and sing to Parvati Maa as she comes to bathe in the river Ganga. She asks whom they are praising. A form comes from her body and says they are praising her. This is Kaushiki. Parvati Maa turns black and becomes Kalika.
Chanda and Munda see Kaushiki and tell Shumbha. Shumbha sends Sugriva with a marriage proposal. She says she will only marry the one who defeats her in battle. Shumbha sends Dhumralochana to drag her by her hair. She turns him to ashes with the sound 'Hum'. Shumbha sends Chanda and Munda. Her face turns black with anger, and Kali Maa comes from her forehead wearing a tiger skin and a garland of skulls. Kali Maa eats the army and cuts off the heads of Chanda and Munda.
Shumbha sends his whole army. The female energies of the gods join the fight. The asura Raktabija comes. When a drop of his blood falls to the earth, a clone springs up. The field fills with Raktabijas. Durga Maa tells Kali Maa to open her mouth wide. Durga Maa attacks, and Kali Maa drinks every drop of blood and eats the clones until Raktabija dies.
Nishumbha attacks and is killed. Shumbha tells Durga Maa she has false pride for using the strength of others. She says she is alone in the world and pulls the other forms back into her body. They fight, and she pierces his chest with her spear, killing him.
Suratha and Samadhi go to the bank of a river, make an earthen murti of Durga Maa, and do puja for three years, offering their own blood. Durga Maa appears. She tells Suratha he will get his kingdom back and become the Manu named Savarni. She gives Samadhi the knowledge that brings freedom.
The Bengali tradition tells a different katha. During the war in Lanka, Shri Ram cannot defeat Ravana because Durga Maa protects him. So that Ravana can be killed, Brahma himself wakes her on Shashthi, even though it is autumn and the gods are asleep. Shri Ram begins the puja. Vibhishana tells him that one hundred and eight blue lotuses will please the Devi, and Hanuman ji brings them from Devidaha. Shri Ram takes a sankalp to offer all one hundred and eight. To test him, the Devi herself hides one, and he is short by one lotus. Shri Ram, known as the lotus-eyed one, draws his arrow to pluck out his own eye to finish the offering. Durga Maa appears, stops his hand, and gives him the boon of victory.
Whoever recites or listens to these stories during the autumn days will be freed from poverty and fear. Durga Maa stays in the house where this katha is said, keeping it safe from enemies, fire, and weapons, and bringing wealth, health, and freedom.
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