Shloka 4
Adhyaya 83 — The Slaying of Mahishasura’s Armies and the Final Death of Mahishasura
चिच्छेद च धनुः सद्यो ध्वजं चातिसमुच्छ्रितम् ।
विव्याध चैव गात्रेषु छिन्नधन्वानमाशुगैः ॥
ciccheda ca dhanuḥ sadyo dhvajaṃ cātisamucchritam / vivyādha caiva gātreṣu cchinnadhanvānamāśugaiḥ
She immediately cut his bow, and also his banner raised high; and with swift arrows she pierced his limbs—him whose bow had been severed.
FAQs
Adharma is first stripped of its instruments and symbols (bow and banner), then corrected through consequence; the sequence models ‘justice’ as removal of capacity to harm and curbing of arrogance.
Anucarita within Manvantara narrative—didactic combat episode showing dharma’s enforcement through divine agency.
The bow represents will/agency used wrongly; the banner symbolizes self-display and pride. Śakti cuts both, then pierces the ‘limbs’—the functional supports of ego—rendering it powerless.