Shloka 32
Adhyaya 92 — Devi’s Assurance of Protection and the Fruits of Reciting the Devi Mahatmyam
दैत्याश्च देव्याः निहते शुम्भे देवरिपौ युधि ।
जगद्विध्वंसके तस्मिन् महोग्रेऽतुलविक्रमॆ ।
निशुम्भे च महावीर्ये शेषाः पातालमाययुः ॥
daityāś ca devyā nihate śumbhe devaripau yudhi / jagadvidhvaṃsake tasmin mahogre 'tulavikrame / niśumbhe ca mahāvīrye śeṣāḥ pātālam āyayuḥ
Et lorsque la Déesse tua au combat Śumbha—l’ennemi des dieux—, ce destructeur du monde, terriblement farouche et d’une puissance sans égale, et lorsque Niśumbha aussi, d’une grande vaillance, fut abattu, les daityas restants descendirent à Pātāla.
FAQs
Unchecked power that becomes ‘world-destroying’ is ultimately self-defeating; when arrogance (Śumbha) and violent obstinacy (Niśumbha) are overcome, destructive tendencies retreat to latent strata (Pātāla) rather than ruling the surface world.
This is part of Manvantara narrative and supports Sthiti: the Purāṇa depicts periodic crises within an age and the divine intervention that preserves order.
Śumbha–Niśumbha can be read as twin poles of egoic appropriation—claiming all powers as ‘mine’ and enforcing it; their defeat indicates the restoration of sovereignty to the divine source, while residual impulses subside into the subconscious (Pātāla).