Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 83, Shloka 1
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
如是，在《圣摩尔甘德耶大往世书》中，于萨瓦尔尼·摩奴万塔罗之段、《女神功德颂》（Devī Māhātmya）里，名为“诛灭摩醯沙阿修罗之军”（第八十二章）的一章至此结束。仙人说道：见自己的军队被屠戮，那大阿修罗——其统帅吉克舒罗（Cikṣura）——怒而出阵，欲与安比迦（Ambikā）交战。
FAQs
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.