Shloka 3
Adhyaya 85 — The Gods’ Hymn to the Goddess and the Emergence of Kaushiki; Shumbha Sends His Envoy
तावेव पवनार्धि च चक्रतुर्वह्निकर्म च ।
अन्येषाञ्चाधिकारान् स स्वयमेवाधितिष्ठति ॥
ततो देवा विनिर्धूता भ्रष्टराज्याः पराजिताः ॥
tāveva pavanārdhi ca cakraturvahnikarma ca / anyeṣāñ cādhikārān sa svayamevādhitiṣṭhati / tato devā vinirdhūtā bhraṣṭarājyāḥ parājitāḥ
সেই দুইজন বায়ু ও ইন্দ্রের কার্য এবং অগ্নির যজ্ঞকর্মও সম্পাদন করল; আর সে নিজে অন্যান্য দেবতার পদও অধিকার করল। অতএব দেবগণ রাজ্যচ্যুত, পরাজিত ও বিতাড়িত হলেন।
FAQs
When adhikāra (rightful authority) is seized by force, cosmic order (ṛta/dharma) is disrupted; the Devas’ defeat sets the stage for seeking the higher, restoring power—Devi—rather than relying on fragmented, contested power.
Primarily within “rakṣā/vaṃśānucarita” style narrative (protection and exemplary accounts), not a sarga/pratisarga passage; it functions as an episodic theological narrative embedded in the Purāṇa.
The ‘offices’ of gods symbolize faculties that uphold the cosmos and the individual. Their usurpation indicates domination of the psyche/world by asuric tendencies; restoration requires invoking the supreme Śakti who re-harmonizes these powers.