Mahishasura thought he could never be defeated, since no man or god in all the three Lokas could even touch a hair on his head now.
He began to attack all the kingdoms on Earth. His army of Asuras showed no mercy to anyone. After winning the kingdoms all over Earth, Mahishasura set his eyes on Amravati, the city of the gods.
When the Devas saw Mahishasura and his army approaching the city gates, they told Indra, the king of the Gods. Indra was overconfident about his powers. He mocked Mahishasura and said, “It seems that Mahishasura doesn’t love his life anymore. I say, we prepare for the battle at once and let these Asuras meet their fate.”
Soon a fight broke out between the Devas and the Asuras. Slowly it became clear that the Asuras would win. When Mahishasura saw Indra, he laughed. “Oh Indra!” he said, “I command you to bow to your new king -- KingMahishasura!”
Mad with rage, Indra attacked Mahishasura with a thunderbolt and said, “Take this, you beast! This will be the end of you!”
But Indra’s vajra passed right through Mahishasura’s body without affecting him at all. Everybody was shocked to see this. Indra realised that there was no way he could defeat Mahishasura, and so, he and the other Devas ran away.
After defeating Indra, Mahishasura became the new king of heaven. He became certain that no one in the three Lokas could ever defeat him, let alone kill him. He started looting all the riches of Devaloka, and encouraged his men to do the same.
One day, he called all his men and said, “As you know, I’m the new God of Heaven. This makes me the supreme God in all the three Lokas! So I declare myself as Mahadeva, the God of all gods!”
All the Asuras cheered their new god and bowed before him.
Mahishasura continued, “I make it compulsory for everyone to worship me as their one and only god. If anyone disobeys my order, they will be killed instantly. I command you to make sure that my wish is fulfilled!”
As commanded, the Asuras started scaring everyone in the three Lokas. They forced them to worship the idol of Mahishasura. The yajnas for holy deities were banned, and anyone who disobeyed the law was killed mercilessly.
Such was the terror of Mahishasura that people started doubting the power of the real gods. Some of them still prayed to the Holy Trinity. They begged them to save humans from the terror of this demon.
However, Mahishasura thoroughly enjoyed his status as Mahadeva. ■