Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 92, Shloka 18

Adhyaya 92 — Devi’s Assurance of Protection and the Fruits of Reciting the Devi Mahatmyam

Sanskrit

दुर्वृत्तानामशेषाणां बलहानिकरं परम् ।

रक्षोभूतपिशाचानां पठनादेव नाशनम् ॥

Transliteration

durvṛttānāmaśeṣāṇāṃ balahānikaraṃ param / rakṣobhūtapiśācānāṃ paṭhanādeva nāśanam

Translation

၎င်းသည် မကောင်းသူအားလုံး၏ အင်အားကို အလွန်ထိရောက်စွာ လျော့နည်းစေသည်။ ရာක්ෂသ (rākṣasa)၊ ဘူတ (bhūta) နှင့် ပိသာစ (piśāca) တို့အတွက်တော့ ၎င်းကို ရွတ်ဖတ်ခြင်းသာဖြင့် ပျက်စီးခြင်းကို ဖြစ်စေသည်။

Speakers

• Devī (phalaśruti voice)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "vira", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Devī

Shakti Aspects

• Devī as protector and destroyer of negativity/hostile forces (rakṣā + ugra-śakti)

Key Themes

• Protection
• Removal of evil
• Recitation power
• Phalaśruti

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The text asserts that adharma loses power in the presence of dharmic śakti; recitation is not mere speech but disciplined remembrance that strengthens protective order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

A phalaśruti statement emphasizing ritual efficacy; not part of the Purāṇic fivefold historiography.

What is the esoteric significance?

Hostile ‘spirits’ can also signify destructive impulses and parasitic tendencies; ‘recitation alone’ points to the transformative potency of mantra-like narrative when internalized with faith and attention.