Adhyaya 89 — The Wrath of Shumbha and Nishumbha and the Fall of Nishumbha
स रथस्थस्तथात्युच्चैर्गृहीतपरमायुधैः ।
भुजैरष्टाभिरतुलैर्व्याप्याशेषं बभौ नभः ॥
sa ratha-sthas tathātyuccair gṛhīta-paramāyudhaiḥ |
bhujair aṣṭābhir atulair vyāpyāśeṣaṃ babhau nabhaḥ ||
Ngồi trên chiến xa, giương cao những vũ khí tối thượng, với tám cánh tay vô song, hắn phủ kín cả không gian và rực sáng khắp bầu trời.
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Asuric power often manifests as spectacle—expansive display meant to intimidate. The Purana contrasts such outward magnitude with the Devi’s inner sovereignty, implying that true authority is not measured by show but by alignment with dharma.
Narrative exemplum; it supports moral-theological teaching rather than serving as a cosmological or genealogical register.
‘Pervading the sky’ can symbolize the mind overwhelmed by a grandiose ego-identity. The many arms and weapons reflect proliferating strategies of control; the Devi’s role is to re-center reality in the non-inflated ground of truth.