men that remember thee are never prostrated, O great
Goddess. Thou art Fame, thou art Prosperity, thou art Steadiness, thou
art Success; thou art the Wife, thou art men's Offspring, thou art
Knowledge, and thou art the Intellect. Thou art the two Twilights, the
Night Sleep, Light--both solar and lunar, Beauty, Forgiveness, Mercy,
and every other thing. Thou dispellest, worshipped by the devotees their
fetters, ignorance, loss of children and loss of wealth, disease, death,
and fear. I, who have been deprived of my kingdom, seek thy protection.
And as I bow to thee with bended head, O Supreme Goddess, grant me
protection, O thou of eyes like lotus leaves. And be thou as boon-giving
Truth unto us that are acting according to Truth. And, O Durga, kind as
thou art unto all that seek thy protection, and affectionate unto all
thy devotees, grant me protection!'"

[9] _Mahishasura_, the son of Rambhasura. Durga had to fight for
many years before she could slay this formidable _Asura_.
The story occurs in the _Markandeya Purana_. To this day, Bengal
during the great Durga Puja festival in autumn, worships the
goddess with great veneration.

[10] Literally, one that rescues from difficulty.

Vaisampayana continued, "Thus praised by the son of Pandu, the Goddess
showed herself unto him. And approaching the king, she addressed him in
these words, 'O mighty armed king, listen, O Lord, to these words of
mine. Having vanquished and slain the ranks of the Kauravas through my
grace, victory in battle will soon be thine. Thou shalt again lord it
over the entire Earth, having made thy dominions destitute of thorns.
And, O king, thou shalt also, with thy brothers, obtain great happiness.
And through my grace, joy and health will be thine. And they also in the
world who will recite my attributes and achievements will be freed from
their sins, and gratified. I will bestow upon them kingdom, long life,
beauty of person, and offspring. And they, O king, who will invoke me,
after thy manner, in exile or in the city, in the midst of battle or of
dangers from foes, in forests or in inaccessible deserts, in seas or
mountain fastnesses, there is nothing that they will not obtain in this
world. And ye sons of Pandu, he will achieve success in every business
of his that will listen to, or himself recite with devotion, this
excellent hymn. And through my grace neither the Kuru's spies, nor those
that dwell in the country of