Adhyaya 83 — The Slaying of Mahishasura’s Armies and the Final Death of Mahishasura
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयमहापुराणे सावर्णिके मन्वन्तरे देवीमाहात्म्ये महिषासुरसैन्यवधो नाम द्व्यशीतितमोऽध्यायः ।
ऋषिरुवाच— निहन्यमानं तत्सैन्यमवलोक्य महासुरः ।
सेनानीश्चिक्षुरः कोपाद्ययौ योद्धुमथाम्बिकाम् ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyamahāpurāṇe sāvarṇike manvantare devīmāhātmye mahiṣāsurasainyavadho nāma dvyaśītitamo 'dhyāyaḥ | ṛṣiruvāca nihanyamānaṃ tatsainyamavalākya mahāsuraḥ / senānīścikṣuraḥ kopādyayau yoddhumathāmbikām
Assim, no Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya Mahāpurāṇa, no Sāvarṇi Manvantara, no Devī Māhātmya, encerra-se o capítulo chamado «O Extermínio do Exército de Mahīṣāsura» (capítulo 82). Disse o Ṛṣi: Vendo o seu exército ser abatido, o grande asura—seu comandante Cikṣura—avançou irado para combater Ambikā.
When collective wrongdoing collapses, its leadership often responds with anger rather than reflection; the verse sets up the moral pattern of adharma doubling down and meeting decisive defeat.
Manvantara (explicitly named) with Anucarita (episode narrative). The colophon anchors the story within purāṇic time-structuring.
The ‘general’ represents the organizing intellect of ego (ahaṃkāra’s strategy); once the mass of tendencies is cut down, the controlling node confronts Śakti directly—and is undone.