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raktabija

रक्तबीज raktabīja

A demon in the Devi Mahatmya, each drop of whose spilled blood became a new demon, until the Goddess as Kali drank the blood before it could fall.

Where this term appears

  • Who is Kali? Deities

    Against the demon Raktabija, from each drop of whose spilled blood a new clone instantly springs, the gods are helpless, until Kali spreads her tongue across the battlefield and drinks his blood before a drop c…

  • What is Navaratri? Worship

    The third has her annihilate the brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha and the demon Raktabija, whose every spilled drop of blood breeds a new demon until she drinks the blood before it lands.

  • Kali: The Black Mother of Time Treatise

    Then comes Raktabija, "Blood-Seed," the demon whose boon is monstrous: wherever a drop of his blood falls to the earth, a new demon of his full strength springs up.

  • The Mothers Treatise

    A demon army led by the brothers Chanda and Munda, and by the monstrous Raktabīja whose every spilled drop of blood becomes a new demon, is overwhelming the field.

  • The Goddess Takes the Field Treatise

    …umbha, and here the text produces its most vivid invention: the demon Raktabija, every fallen drop of whose blood instantly became a new demon, so that the more he was wounded the more numberless his army grew,…

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