Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 86, Shloka 8
Adhyaya 86 — Dhumralocana’s Mission and His Ashing by the Goddess; Shumbha Sends Chanda and Munda
श्रीदेव्युवाच दैत्येश्वरेण प्रहितो बलवान् बलसंवृतः ।
बलान्नयासि मामेवं ततः किं ते करोम्यहम् ॥
śrīdevy uvāca daityeśvareṇa prahito balavān balasaṃvṛtaḥ /
balān nayāsi mām evaṃ tataḥ kiṃ te karomy aham
देव्युवाच—“दैत्येन्द्रेण प्रेषितस्त्वं बलवान् बलपरिवृतश्च। यदि मां एवं बलात् नेष्यसि—तर्हि अहं त्वां प्रति किं करिष्यामि?”
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FAQs
Devī’s rhetorical question is not helplessness but sovereign assertion: unjust force invites consequence. Dharma is portrayed as active power that answers coercion with protection of order.
A narrative unit within a didactic myth (devī-carita), used for moral instruction rather than cosmography or genealogy.
When the higher Self (Devī) is threatened by compulsive drives (asura-force), it responds with clarity and decisive action—transforming the encounter into purification.
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