Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 90, Shloka 22
Adhyaya 90 — The Slaying of Shumbha and the Reabsorption of the Goddesses into Ambika
तमायान्तं ततो देवी सर्वदैत्यजनेश्वरम् ।
जगत्यां पातयामास भित्त्वा शूलेन वक्षसि ॥
tam āyāntaṃ tato devī sarva-daitya-janeśvaram /
jagatyāṃ pātayāmāsa bhittvā śūlena vakṣasi
तब देवी ने पृथ्वी पर आते हुए समस्त दैत्य-गणों के अधिपति उस अग्रसर को अपने शूल से वक्षस्थल भेदकर धरती पर गिरा दिया।
FAQs
When destructive intent becomes irredeemable, the righteous response is decisive and proportionate; Devī’s act is not cruelty but the restoration of safety for the world.
An exemplary episode (vaṃśānucarita/itihāsa mode) embedded in Manvantara narration—showing how divine agency stabilizes an age.
Piercing the ‘chest’ indicates breaking the seat of hardened self-assertion; the śūla signifies penetrating discriminative power that ends inner tyranny.