Adhyaya 90 — The Slaying of Shumbha and the Reabsorption of the Goddesses into Ambika
चिच्छेदापततस्तस्य मुद्गरं निशितैः शरैः ।
तथापि सोऽभ्यधावत्तां मुṣ्टिमुद्यम्य वेगवान् ॥
cicchedāpatatas tasya mudgaraṃ niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ / tathāpi so 'bhyadhāvat tāṃ muṣṭim udyamya vegavān
As he advanced, she severed his mace with sharp arrows. Even so, swift with rage, he rushed at her, raising his fist.
When external instruments fail, stubborn ego resorts to raw aggression; the text highlights the irrational persistence of adharma even after repeated defeat.
Carita: narrative teaching by portraying the psychological profile of the asura—escalation, then desperation.
The shift from weapons to fist symbolizes regression from strategy to instinct; spiritually, it mirrors how unpurified tendencies fall back to crude reactions when challenged.