Bhandāsura is an

asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

who appears in Hindu literature, most prominently in

Shaktism Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, mani ...

. He is featured in the ''Lalita Mahatmaya'' of the

Brahmanda Purana The ''Brahmanda Purana'' () is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas, a genre of Hindu texts. It is listed as the eighteenth Maha-Purana in almost all the anthologies. The text is also referred in medieval Indian literature as th ...

, where he is slain by the goddess Lalita.

Legend

After his brothers were slain by the goddess Lalita, Bhandasura swore vengeance upon her. The armies of the two beings met in battle. Hundreds of the vehicles of daityas are stated to have appeared like hundreds of fishes and crocodiles. A river of blood is stated to have flowed. After four days, the leaders of the armies met in personal combat. The two beings engaged in an exchange of missiles. ''Andhatāmisraka'' (the great darkness) was sent by Bhandasura, which was neutralised by Lalita's ''Mahātaraṇi'' (the great sun). To assist her soldiers who were known as ''Śaktis'', the goddess sent the powerful astra of the deity Vishnu, which offered great respite to them. When the asura assailed Lalita's army with the ''Mahāsurāstra,'' thousands of asuras sprung out, placing the ''Śaktis'' of the goddess in great peril, who pleaded her for an intervention''.'' When Lalita laughed, the goddess

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

manifested herself upon her lion, destroying the asura army, including

Mahishasura Mahishasura (, ) is a bovine asura in Hinduism. He is depicted in Hindu texts, Hindu literature as a deceitful demon who pursued his evil ways by shape-shifting. Mahishasura was the son of the asura Rambha (asura), Rambha and the brother of buf ...

. Various beings of great might were summoned to assist both sides, where

Narasimha Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...

and

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

came to the aid of Lalita, and

Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...

and

Kumbhakarna Kumbhakarna (Sanskrit: कुम्भकर्ण, lit. ''pot-eared'') is a powerful rakshasa and younger brother of Ravana from the Hinduism, Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Despite his gigantic size and appetite, he is described as a virtuous c ...

was summoned by Bhandasura. The ''Narayanastra'' was employed to annihilate the ''akshauhinis'' of the asura, and the ''Pasupatastra'' slew the generals. Finally, Bhandasura was slain by a missile known as ''Mahākāmeśara.''

References

{{Reflist Asura