 The third book of Mahabharata narrates the tale of the birth of Kartikeya which mentions Devasena . Devasena and <unk> ( literally " army of demons " ) are the daughters of Prajapati Daksha . Once , while the sisters are enjoying leisure at the banks of Lake Manasa , the asura ( demon ) Keshi abducts them so that he could marry them . While Devasena refuses , <unk> consents . Meanwhile , the gods are defeated in a battle by the demons . Indra , who is searching for an ideal Devasenapati ( commander of the army of the gods ) , reaches the place where Devasena is held captive . On her request , Indra defeats the demon and rescues her . Devasena asks Indra to find her a husband ( pati ) who can protect her and defeat the gods , the demons and the <unk> . Indra discusses the matter with the god Brahma and they agree that a son born of Agni would be suitable for being the Devasenapati , the husband of Devasena and the commander @-@ in @-@ chief of the gods . Accordingly , Agni is forced to have a son , who becomes Kartikeya . After many exploits which prove his supremacy over the gods , Kartikeya is made the general of the army of the gods and is married to Devasena by Indra . At this point in the text , Agni is identified with Shiva , who is proclaimed as the father of Kartikeya . Ultimately , with the aid of Devasena and Kartikeya , the gods defeat the demons . In this narrative , Devasena is identified with many other goddesses like Shashthi , Shri @-@ Lakshmi , Kuhu @-@ Sinivali and others . 
