Shloka 21

Adhyaya 90 — The Slaying of Shumbha and the Reabsorption of the Goddesses into Ambika

Sanskrit

स क्षिप्तो धरणीं प्राप्य मुष्टिमुद्यम्य वेगितः ।

अभ्यधावत दुष्टात्मा चण्डिकानिधनेच्छया ॥

Transliteration

sa kṣipto dharaṇīṃ prāpya muṣṭim udyamya vegitaḥ /

abhyadhāvata duṣṭātmā caṇḍikā-nidhane-cchayā

Translation

भूमीवर पाडली गेली ती जमिनीवर येऊन पडली; तेव्हा तो दुष्टात्मा मुठ उचलून क्रोधाने धावत चंडिकेला मारण्याच्या इच्छेने पुढे झेपावला।

Speakers

• Narrative voice within Devī Māhātmyam

Primary Deities

• Caṇḍikā (Devī)

Shakti Aspects

• Caṇḍikā

Key Themes

• Tāmasic aggression
• Inevitable collapse of adharma
• Devī as protector

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Unchecked ego (asuric will) doubles down even after humiliation; the verse portrays how malice persists until it meets decisive restraint—an ethical warning about anger and obsession.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Itihāsa-like exemplum within Manvantara framing; not cosmogony, but dharma-illustration embedded in a manvantaric setting.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘raised fist’ is the hardening of will (ahaṅkāra); charging at the Divine indicates the mind’s attempt to dominate reality—ending in the dissolution of that delusion.