In the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana, Rama is hesistant to kill the Rakshasi (demoness) Thataka because she's a woman, but the sage Vishwamitra tells him that even the gods have fought women when they were engaged in evil:
Compassion regarding the elimination of a female is ungermane, oh, best one among men, since a prince has to effectuate it intending the welfare of four categories of society.... To the nominee who bears the burden of kingdom this is the age-old duty, and hence oh, Rama, the legatee of Kakutstha, eliminate this infamy, as goodness is inevident in her, isn't it? Oh, Rama, the protector of people, we have heard that Indra once eliminated Manthara, the daughter of Virochana, when she wished to annihilate earth, haven't we? And Rama, once Vishnu wiped out even the wife of sage Bhrigu and sage Shukracarya's mother when she wished the world to become one without a governing factor, namely Indra.
I already asked about Indra killing Manthara here, but now I'm interested in the story of Vishnu killing Sukracharya's mother. For those who don't know, Sukracharya is the guru of the Asuras (demons), god of the planet Venus, and son of the sage Bhrigu.
The only account I could find of Vishnu killing Sukracharya's mother is from the Fourth Skanda of the Devi Bhagavatam. In this account, Sukracharya goes to pray to Shiva in order to acquire a mantra to help the Asuras defeat the gods. The gods take advantage of Sukracharya's absence to launch an attack on the Asuras. Since the Asuras can't turn to their guru for help, they instead turn to Sukracharya's mother, who knocks the gods unconscious with her magical powers. Sukracharya's mother then threatens to "devour" Indra, so Indra asks Vishnu to kill her:
Seeing the Daityas thus attacked, the mother was furiously irritated and told them she would make all of them overpowered by sleep by her tapas strength, clarified intellectual force. So saying she sent the Goddess of sleep who at once overpowered the Gods and made them all lie down on the grounds senseless. Indra with the other Devas lay there dumb, and miserable. On seeing Indra thus stupefied by sleep, the Bhagavân Visnu told Indra to enter into His body. He would then carry him to another place and he will be better. Indra entered into the Visnu’s body; and, under His protection, he became free from sleep and fear.
On seeing Indra thus sheltered by Visnu and fearless, the mother of Kâvya spoke: "O Indra! I will devour you with Visnu today by my Tapas force. All the Devas will presently see all this and my extraordinary power." ... Indra, on hearing the Devas cry aloud, told Visnu, "O Madhusûdana! I am more bewildered in particular than yourself. O Mâdhava! No need of any further consideration. Before this wretch, inflated with pride by her tapasyâ, burns us, better cause her death as early as possible." When thus requested by Indra who was very much perplexed, Bhagavân Visnu quickly remembered his Sudars’ana disc... The disc, the ever obedient weapon of Visnu appeared instantly at his remembrance; and Visnu, becoming angry as prompted by Indra held the disc in His hand, and, hurling it off on the S’ukrâ’s mother, severed off her head quickly.
The story ends with Sukracharya's father Bhrigu bringing his wife back to life and cursing Vishnu to be born repeatedly on earth in various incarnations (avataras).
Unfortunately, the Devi Bhagavatam is widely regarded as not being an authentic Hindu scripture; it's purportedly an Upapurana (minor Purana), but it's not mentioned in the canonical lists of Upapuranas given in the Mahapuranas. So my question is, are there any other scriptures that tell the story of Vishnu killing Sukracharya's mother? The story took place sufficiently long ago that it's alluded to by Vishwamitra in the Ramayana, so is it possible that it's mentioned in the Vedas? Is the story mentioned in Puranas other than the Devi Bhagavatam?
