Goddess Durga Slaying the Demon Mahisha second half of the 9th century Eastern India, Bihar, probably Gaya district Durga slaying Mahisha (Mahishamardini) is here represented in her multi-armed form, manifesting her supreme power as the dispeller of evil, personified in the buffalo demon (asura) Mahisha, seen slumped at her feet. Following the Devi Mahatmya text, she wields the mighty weapons lent to her by the assembly of male gods who singly could not defeat the demon. In this eight-armed form, Durga wields the mighty broad bladed sword above her head with which she has just decapitated the buffalo, whose severed head lies at her feet. With her remaining right hands she displays the discus weapon of Vishnu (also seen embedded in the buffalos side) while pulling an arrow from the quiver she wears on her back, and plunging Shivas trident (trusula) into the demons human form. With her lower left hand she grips the demon by a tress of his hair as she transfixes him with the trident as