Shumbha and Nishumbha

[1] Shumbha and Nishumbha traveled to Pushkara, a sacred site, and remained there in prayer for ten thousand years.

[2] Chanda and Munda, two lesser asuras in the service of Shumbha, encountered the goddess Durga, and were overwhelmed by her beauty.

With Shumbha and Nishumbha gone, the Three Worlds returned to their ordinary state of being, rid of a great evil.

[4] Some, such as John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff, see Shumbha and Nishumbha as symbols of arrogance and pride which is ultimately overcome by Parvati's humility and wisdom.

[5] In Shashi Tharoor's satirical novel The Great Indian Novel, the story of Shumbha and Nishumbha is used both as a warning against the dangers of seduction, and as a metaphor for the collapse of the relationship among the five Pandavas.

Painting of Durga fighting Shumbha and Nishumbha
A Pahari depiction of Kali (sometimes described as a form of Parvati ) attacking Nishumbha with her trident: Kali Attacking Nishumbha ; c. 1740 , colour on paper, 22 × 33 cm, Cleveland Museum of Art .