Shloka 1
Adhyaya 83 — The Slaying of Mahishasura’s Armies and the Final Death of Mahishasura
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयमहापुराणे सावर्णिके मन्वन्तरे देवीमाहात्म्ये महिषासुरसैन्यवधो नाम द्व्यशीतितमोऽध्यायः ।
ऋषिरुवाच— निहन्यमानं तत्सैन्यमवलोक्य महासुरः ।
सेनानीश्चिक्षुरः कोपाद्ययौ योद्धुमथाम्बिकाम् ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyamahāpurāṇe sāvarṇike manvantare devīmāhātmye mahiṣāsurasainyavadho nāma dvyaśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ | ṛṣiruvāca nihanyamānaṃ tatsainyamavalākya mahāsuraḥ / senānīścikṣuraḥ kopādyayau yoddhumathāmbikām
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya Mahāpurāṇa, au sein du Sāvarṇi Manvantara, dans le Devī Māhātmya, s’achève le chapitre intitulé « L’anéantissement de l’armée de Mahīṣāsura » (chapitre 82). Le Ṛṣi dit : Voyant son armée massacrée, le grand asura—son commandant Cikṣura—s’avança avec colère pour combattre Ambikā.
FAQs
When collective wrongdoing collapses, its leadership often responds with anger rather than reflection; the verse sets up the moral pattern of adharma doubling down and meeting decisive defeat.
Manvantara (explicitly named) with Anucarita (episode narrative). The colophon anchors the story within purāṇic time-structuring.
The ‘general’ represents the organizing intellect of ego (ahaṃkāra’s strategy); once the mass of tendencies is cut down, the controlling node confronts Śakti directly—and is undone.