The legend of Jagaddhatri is inspired from a tale in the
Kena Upanishad. In the
Katyayani Tantra, the following legend is told. After the goddess
Durga killed
Mahishasura, the gods of
Svarga forgot about her powers. So, in order to test them, Parvati appeared before the gods
Agni,
Vayu,
Varuna, and
Chandra, who considered themselves invincible and were engulfed by
ahamkara (ego). She asked them to move a tiny blade of grass. Vayu failed to pluck it; Agni failed to burn it. Every god failed at the task. In the end, they understood that the
Goddess is the source of all power in the universe; even theirs. The goddess appeared before them as Uma, riding on a lion. The goddess is equated with
Brahman in the narrative. The goddess gave the ego of the gods the form of an elephant. Jagaddhatri is depicted sitting on a lion with an elephant under them. The elephant, symbolizing
ahamkara, lies under the paws of her
vahana the lion, who symbolises courage, valour and the strength to overcome any challenges, including one's internal struggles with the
Shada Ripus ("the six enemies"). She is named as
Mahadurga in
Shiva Purana. While in some other texts, as
Uma Haimavati. Her dhyana mantra describes her weapons, vahana and her iconography. She is sitting atop a
lion, wearing different jewelry, in her four hands Devi holds
bow,
arrow,
chakra and
Samkha. She is reddish like the rising sun and she is wearing a snake garland. Her reddish colour and weapons are the symbols of
raja guna but this is not for destruction and going to war. Rather this is to keep the world focused on Ritam & Satyam. In her
stotram (Jagadhatri Strotram), she has been invoked as Adhara bhutah, Dhritirupah, Dhurandharah, Dhruvapadah, Shaktistah, Shaktirupah, Shaktacharpriyah, Shaktivigrahe. "You must believe in the Ishwara rupa. Do you know the meaning of Jagadhatri rupa? She is carrying the world. If she stops then the world will get destroyed" is said by
Sri Ramakrishna. She sustains the universe through her
Yoga shakti. Naga/Sarpa is the symbol of Yoga &
Upavitam is the symbol of
Bramhin. Devi is
yogini. She is using the world through her maha yoga shakti. The act of rescuing the world is her
lila. It is said that she had killed the
elephant demon,
Karindrasura. Its mention is not found in her dhyana mantra but in her idol an
elephant is seen below her mount
lion, who is none other than
Karindrasura. It's said that once the
Airavata of
Indra was cursed and therefore it took birth as Karindrasura. He became a very strong demon. Once, he saw goddess
Ganga and was attracted to her beauty. Hence, he lusted for her, but Ganga rejected his proposal. Karindrasur became very furious about the rejection and forced Ganga to come with her. To save her life she prayed to goddess
Mahamaya and she appeared in the form of Jagatdhatri. A vicious battle took place between the goddess and the demon, where Goddess Jagatdhatri slayed Karindrasura with the help of her
chakra,
Bow and
arrow. From then she was known as
Karindrasurnishudini. After that Airavat was free from the curse. Another encounter mentions that Karindrasura became an important and powerful official of Durgamasura whom Goddess
Durga killed by taking form of Jagaddhatri during the battle of Durga and
Durgamasura. Another story tells that when
Mahishasura took form of an elephant during the battle with Goddess
Katyayini, he came to be known as
Karindrasura, who was slayed by Goddess in form of Jagddhatri with Chakra, bow and arrow. In this encounter Mahishasura and Karindrasura are indifferent, just with different animal forms. ==Difference between Durga and Mahadurga (Jagaddhatri)==