The name Durga comes from a demon called Durgama. According to the Devi Bhagavata, he won control of the Vedas through a boon, and the earth fell into drought and famine. The Mother appeared, fed the starving as Shakambhari, and then destroyed Durgama in battle. Because she killed Durgama, she is called Durga.
It is a good story to begin Navaratri with, because it tells you who Durga is before the festival turns to her nine forms, the Navadurga.
The opening prayer
Before the story, devotees often recite this well-known verse, which salutes the Devi as the power living inside every being.
या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्तिरूपेण संस्थिता । नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥
yā devī sarvabhūteṣu śaktirūpeṇa saṃsthitā | namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaḥ ||
Meaning: To the Devi who lives in all beings in the form of power, salutations to her, salutations to her, salutations to her, again and again.
Watch the story
A narrated retelling from our YouTube channel, in the regional language of this site.
The story of Durgamasura
A demon who wanted the Vedas
Long ago, in the line of Hiranyaksha, there lived a demon named Ruru. His son was Durgama. He was dark-natured from birth, and as he grew, so did his hatred of the devas.
One day a thought came to him. The strength of the devas, he decided, lay in the Vedas. Why fight them in battle? If he took the Vedas for himself, the devas would fall on their own.
So Durgama went to the Himalayas and began a fierce tapas. It was so severe that the three worlds shook. At last Lord Brahma appeared and asked him to choose a boon. Durgama said: "Let all the Vedas and mantras known to the Brahmins come under my control. And give me the power to defeat every deva." Brahma said "Tathastu" (so be it) and vanished.
The world without rain
Proud of his boon, Durgama attacked the world of the devas with his army. The devas lost and fled. He did not stop there. He attacked the earth as well.
With the Vedas in his hands, the yajnas on earth stopped. The Vedic chants fell silent. No rain fell. The ground cracked open, and lakes and wells dried up. People, animals and birds all suffered without food.
Seeing this, the devas, the rishis and the people went together to the Himalayas and prayed to the Mother of the world with this verse:
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थ साधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यंबके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
sarvamaṅgala māṅgalye śive sarvārtha sādhike | śaraṇye tryambake gauri nārāyaṇi namo'stu te ||
Meaning: O auspicious one, the good in all that is good, O Shive, who fulfils every aim, O refuge of all, three-eyed Gauri, Narayani, salutations to you.
Tears that became rivers: Shakambhari
Hearing their cries, the compassionate Parameshwari appeared before them.
Her form was beautiful. Her eyes were wide like the petals of a blue lotus. She wore red, and in her eighteen hands she held flowers and weapons, with two hands in the gestures of fearlessness (abhaya) and blessing (varada). She shone like ten million suns.
When she saw how her children were suffering, tears of compassion ran from her eyes. Those tears became thousands of streams. They filled every lake and tank, and the earth turned green again.
Then, with her own hands, she gave out the roots, tubers and fruits she held to everyone who was hungry. This is why she is worshipped as Shakambhari Devi, "she who carries green food."
The ten-day battle
The rain had returned, but the Vedas were still with Durgama. The devotees begged the Mother to win them back, and she went into battle herself.
The arrows of the demons could not touch anyone. Her protection covered them all.
The fighting went on for ten days. From her body came many shaktis, among them Kalika, Kamakshi, Bala Tripurasundari, Tulaja and Tarini. Together they destroyed the whole demon army.
On the eleventh day, Durgama came out to fight in person. The Devi struck down his charioteer and the horses of his chariot. The weapon he hurled at her, she broke into a hundred pieces. In the end her arrows brought Durgama down, and the suffering of the worlds ended with him.
How the Mother got the name Durga
The devas and the people sang her praises. She answered them with love: "My children, all the Vedic mantras are my own form. Guard them carefully, so they never fall into unworthy hands."
As the Devi Bhagavata tells it, because she killed Durgama she came to be called Durga. Because she gave greens and food (shaka) to the starving, she is also called Shakambhari.
The two names hold the two sides of the same Mother. One is the strength that punishes the wicked. The other is the tenderness that feeds her children. Devotees who pray to Durga in a hard time are calling on both.
How this story connects to Navaratri
Navaratri is the worship of Durga through nine forms, from Shailaputri on the first day to Siddhidatri on the ninth. Many devotees like to hear how the Mother got the name Durga before those nine days begin, so this story is often read just before or on the first day.
A simple way to honour this story is to recite the two verses above, light a ghee lamp, and offer fruits or fresh greens in memory of Shakambhari. Many devotees close their prayer with "Sri Matre Namah."