Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
ततस्ते विविधैरस्त्रैर्वध्यमानाः सुरारयः ।
मूध्नि लक्ष्म्या समाक्रान्ता विनेशुरिति नः श्रुतम् ॥
tatas te vividhair astrair vadhyamānāḥ surārayaḥ / mūdhni lakṣmyā samākrāntā vineśur iti naḥ śrutam
अथ ते देवशत्रवो नानाशस्त्रप्रहारा हताः प्राणान् त्यक्तवन्तः—लक्ष्म्या शिरसि सम्पीडिताः, यथा श्रुतम्।
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When fortune turns into heady arrogance, it becomes the very cause of ruin; victory is attributed not only to weapons but to the collapse of the enemy’s auspicious support.
Narrative exemplum reinforcing dharma and karmic order; not a direct manvantara/vaṃśa account.
Lakṣmī ‘on the head’ indicates śrī converted into ego-inflation; that pressure becomes destructive—symbolically, the crown becomes a weight that breaks the bearer.