Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 18, Shloka 55
Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
ततस्ते विविधैरस्त्रैर्वध्यमानाः सुरारयः ।
मूध्नि लक्ष्म्या समाक्रान्ता विनेशुरिति नः श्रुतम् ॥
tatas te vividhair astrair vadhyamānāḥ surārayaḥ / mūdhni lakṣmyā samākrāntā vineśur iti naḥ śrutam
Then those enemies of the gods, being struck down by various weapons, perished—having been pressed and crushed upon the head by Lakṣmī, as we have heard.
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FAQs
When fortune turns into heady arrogance, it becomes the very cause of ruin; victory is attributed not only to weapons but to the collapse of the enemy’s auspicious support.
Narrative exemplum reinforcing dharma and karmic order; not a direct manvantara/vaṃśa account.
Lakṣmī ‘on the head’ indicates śrī converted into ego-inflation; that pressure becomes destructive—symbolically, the crown becomes a weight that breaks the bearer.