Shloka 3
Adhyaya 90 — The Slaying of Shumbha and the Reabsorption of the Goddesses into Ambika
श्रीदेव्युवाच । एकैवाहं जगत्यत्र द्वितीया का ममापरा । पश्यैता दुष्ट मय्येव विशन्त्यो मद्विभूतयः ॥
śrīdevyuvāca | ekaivāhaṃ jagatyatra dvitīyā kā mamāparā | paśyaitā duṣṭa mayyeva viśantyo madvibhūtayaḥ ||
Sinabi ng Diyosa: Ako lamang ang umiiral dito sa sansinukob; sino pa ang naririto bukod sa Akin? Masdan, O masama, kung paanong ang aking mga pagpapakita ay muling pumapasok at nagbabalik sa Akin lamang.
FAQs
This verse is the Mahavakya (Great Saying) of the Devi Mahatmyam, asserting the ultimate non-dual (Advaita) reality of the Goddess. It declares that all diverse forms of divinity are merely projections of the singular Supreme Shakti.
Shumbha mocked the Devi for relying on the strength of others (the Matrikas/Seven Mothers) to fight. In response, She demonstrates her omnipotence by absorbing all the Shaktis back into Her own body to fight Shumbha alone.
It represents the process of Samhara (dissolution) or involution, where the multiplicity of the manifest universe (represented by the Vibhutis/Matrikas) collapses back into the singular Source (The Devi) before the final liberation.