Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 85, Shloka 67
Adhyaya 85 — The Gods’ Hymn to the Goddess and the Emergence of Kaushiki; Shumbha Sends His Envoy
मां वा ममानुजं वापि निशुम्भमुरुविक्रमम् ।
भज त्वं चञ्चलापाङ्गि रत्नभूतासि वै यतः ॥
māṃ vā mamānujaṃ vāpi niśumbhamuruvikramam /
bhaja tvaṃ cañcalāpāṅgi ratnabhūtāsi vai yataḥ
या तो मुझे चुन लो, अथवा महान बल-पराक्रम वाले मेरे छोटे भाई निशुम्भ को; हे चंचल कटाक्षों वाली, हम में से किसी एक के साथ संग/सेवा करो, क्योंकि तुम सचमुच रत्न-तुल्य हो।
FAQs
Power that cannot recognize the sacred treats relationship as conquest. The Devi narrative exposes this as self-defeating: the very Shakti they covet becomes the force that ends their tyranny.
A conflict-narrative unit (vaṃśānucarita) used pedagogically to show the nature of asuric dharma (adharma) through speech acts and intention.
‘Cañcala-apāṅgī’ is a rhetorical attempt to eroticize and trivialize Shakti. Esoterically, it mirrors the mind’s attempt to pull transcendent power into sense-objects; Devi refuses and redirects the encounter into a test of inner strength.