Raktabija - the demon

According to the eighth chapter of Devi Mahatmya from Markandeya Puran, there was a demon by the name of Raktabija (blood-seed, literally). He had been given a boon by Lord Brahma that every time a drop of his blood fell on the ground, his strength would increase many times, by his blood creating more of his own. Having received the boon, he had made the life of people on earth miserable.

Goddess Durga was entrusted with the responsibility to eliminate the demon. A fierce battle took place and every time the demon was wounded and his blood dropped on the ground, thousands of demons of his type would be created, thus making the task of killing him near impossible. The battle only got fiercer. Goddess Durga was angry and from her anger and deep concentration was born Goddess Kali. Kali in her fierce form eliminated the huge army and swallowed all of them, which left Raktabija all alone. She then struck the demon and before his blood spilt on the ground, she stretched her huge tongue and devoured all the blood ensuring that not a drop fell on the ground. This way, Raktabija was drained of all the blood and life and soon he was nothing but a corpse.

A Painting depicting the killing of Raktabija by Goddess Kali

The myth has its own symbolism, which I will leave for the time being. Let us look at a modern incident and see if we have a solution the way Goddess Durga had.

Once upon a time, there was a country whose citizens were happy (well, somewhat). A demon named ‘religious tolerance’ started growing from small to big and the nation gave it the boon of secularism and long-drawn judicial system. Soon the demon started multiplying to the effect that one day; it became so big that the nation could not handle the numerous outfits which fired at its own citizens from all over the country. One fine evening, the demon and his army attacked one of the key cities and killed and maimed many innocent citizens. The forces of the nation put up a brave fight and managed to kill majority of them and captured one of the demons.

The system tried the demon for his crimes and declared him guilty after an unnecessarily prolonged trial, which was the result of a ‘thriving modern democracy’. Unlike Raktabija, this demon is still alive and taken care of by the same forces that had once set out to eliminate him. The nation is paying crores from the taxes of the hard- (and hardly)-earned money of its inflation-ridden citizens, the same citizens that the demon tried to kill.

Today, there is no Goddess Durga who can wage a battle and there is no Goddess Kali who can eliminate such demons. May be that is why Raktabija is now alive in the guise of Ajmal Kasab.

Today is 26/11 and three years back this demon had wreaked havoc on Mumbai city.

Mother Kali – where art thou?