Raktabīja

Raktabīja (रक्तबीज) is an asura in Hinduism. According to the Puranas, he fought with Shumbha and Nishumbha against the goddesses Kali and Chandi, both forms of Durga. Raktabīja secured from Shiva a boon according to which if one drop of blood from his body fell on the battlefield, many Raktabījas would arise from the blood and fight the enemies. Each of these Raktabījas would also be like the others in the matter of strength, form, and weapons. Rambha (asura) According to the Puranas, there was an asura king called Danu. His two sons, Rambha and Karambha, who had no children, did Tapas at Pañcanada for the blessing of having children. Rambha and Karambha meditated upon Mālavaṭa Yakṣa, the former seated at the centre of the five fires and the latter standing in the water of a lake. Indra found out about this, he decided to kill them, first in the guise of a crocodile dragged Karambha away by the feet and killed him by drowning him. Then Indra went after Rambha to kill him but was save by Agni. Angry at the death of his brother, Rambha decided to cut off his head and offer it as a sacrifice. When he was about to do so, Agni appeared and told him that suicide was worse than killing others, denouncing it as a great sin, and promised to grant him whatever he desired. Accordingly, Rambha requested Agni for a son more effulgent than the latter, who would conquer the Three Worlds and would not be defeated even by the Deva and the Asuras. Rambha further wanted that son to be as powerful as Vāyu, exceptionally handsome and skilled in archery. Agni blessed Rambha that he would have, as desired, a son by the woman whom he coveted. On his way back home, he saw a beautiful she-buffalo, called Mahiṣī, which he married. He took the buffalo which got pregnant by him, to Patala to protect it from the attack by other buffaloes. One day another buffalo felt a passion for Rambha's wife and in the fight that Rambha was killed by impaling him with his horns. Later, the water buffalo was killed by Rambha's soldiers.