Mahishasura's father Rambha was king of the asuras, traditional enemies of the devas (Hindu gods) and he once fell in love with a water buffalo ( which was in reality a cursed Princess Shyamala); Mahishasura was born out of this union (part of his name translates into buffalo) - as a result of this unorthodox union he could take form of either man or buffalo at will.Despite the asura being (on the whole) power-seeking deities with no real ethics outside conquest he was pious in his meditation to Brahma and eventually Brahma rewarded him by granting him a powerful gift "boon that he could not be defeated in battle by any man or god".Mahishasura, true to his asura nature, was quick to abuse Brahma's gift and invaded heaven, defeating Indra (the king of gods) and driving all the devas out of