Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 85, Shloka 75
Adhyaya 85 — The Gods’ Hymn to the Goddess and the Emergence of Kaushiki; Shumbha Sends His Envoy
अन्येषामपि दैत्यानां सर्वे देवा न वै युधि ।
तिष्ठन्ति सम्मुखे देवि किं पुनः स्त्री त्वमेकिका ॥
anyeṣām api daityānāṃ sarve devā na vai yudhi | tiṣṭhanti saṃmukhe devi kiṃ punaḥ strī tvam ekikā ||
“即便面对其他诸达底耶，众天神也不敢在战场上与之正面相对，女神啊——更何况你只是孤身一位女子！”
FAQs
The verse exposes a common error: judging the Divine by social categories (gender, number, status). In the Devī Māhātmyam, the Goddess is not ‘one woman’ but the very power by which gods act.
Didactic narrative within manvantara: it dramatizes the crisis that necessitates divine intervention, a typical purāṇic teaching device.
‘Alone’ indicates non-duality: Śakti does not require external support. The insult becomes an inadvertent pointer to the One power standing without a second.