Adhyaya 81 — Death of Nishumbha
ऋषिरुवाच एवम् स्तुता तदा देवी तामसी तत्र वेधसा ।
विष्णोः प्रबोधनार्थाय निहन्तुं मधुकैटभौ ॥
ṛṣir uvāca evaṃ stutā tadā devī tāmasī tatra vedhasā / viṣṇoḥ prabodhanārthāya nihantuṃ madhukaiṭabhau
Der Ṛṣi sprach: So damals von Vedhas (Brahmā) gepriesen, machte sich die Tāmasī Devī dort daran, Viṣṇu zu erwecken, damit Madhu und Kaiṭabha erschlagen würden.
{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
The text frames Devī not as a passive abstraction but as an active power responding to sincere invocation; prayer is portrayed as aligning cosmic forces toward dharma.
Carita: a mythic episode that illustrates the functioning of divine powers in maintaining cosmic order at the beginning of the world-cycle.
Calling her ‘Tāmasī’ indicates tamas is not merely negative; it is a regulated cosmic principle under Devī’s sovereignty, withdrawn or deployed as needed.