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Shloka 28

Mārkaṇḍeya’s Request to See Māyā and the Vision of the Cosmic Deluge

खं रोदसी भागणानद्रिसागरान् द्वीपान् सवर्षान् ककुभ: सुरासुरान् । वनानि देशान् सरित: पुराकरान् खेटान् व्रजानाश्रमवर्णवृत्तय: ॥ २८ ॥ महान्ति भूतान्यथ भौतिकान्यसौ कालं च नानायुगकल्पकल्पनम् । यत् किञ्चिदन्यद् व्यवहारकारणं ददर्श विश्वं सदिवावभासितम् ॥ २९ ॥

khaṁ rodasī bhā-gaṇān adri-sāgarān dvīpān sa-varṣān kakubhaḥ surāsurān vanāni deśān saritaḥ purākarān kheṭān vrajān āśrama-varṇa-vṛttayaḥ

رأى الحكيم الكون كلَّه: الفضاء، والسموات والأرض، والنجوم، والجبال والبحار، والجزر العظمى والقارات، والامتداد في كل الجهات، والكائنات الصالحة والشيطانية من الديفات والأسور. ورأى الغابات والبلدان والأنهار والمدن والمناجم، والقرى الزراعية ومراعي الأبقار، وأعمال طبقات الفَرْنَة-آشرَم ومسالكها الروحية. كما رأى العناصر العظمى ومشتقاتها كلها، ورأى الزمان نفسه الذي ينظّم تعاقب يوجات وكَلْبات لا تُحصى ضمن أيام براهما. وفوق ذلك رأى كل ما خُلق لاستعمال الحياة المادية؛ وكل ذلك تجلّى أمامه كأنه حقيقة قائمة.

khamthe sky
kham:
Karma (कर्म; object of ‘saw’)
TypeNoun
Rootkha (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular; ‘sky/space’
rodasīheaven and earth
rodasī:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootrodasī (प्रातिपदिक)
FormDual (द्विवचन), Accusative (2nd); commonly ‘heaven and earth’ (dyāvāpṛthivī)
bhā-gaṇānhosts of stars
bhā-gaṇān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootbhā-gaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; tatpuruṣa ‘bhā’(light/stellar) + gaṇa (group) = ‘constellations/hosts of luminaries’
adri-sāgarānmountains and oceans
adri-sāgarān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootadri (प्रातिपदिक) + sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; dvandva ‘mountains and oceans’
dvīpāncontinents
dvīpān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootdvīpa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; ‘islands/continents’
sa-varṣāntogether with (their) varṣas/regions
sa-varṣān:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeAdjective
Rootsa (सह/सहित-उपसर्गार्थ) + varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; tatpuruṣa ‘varṣaiḥ saha’ = ‘with their regions/rainy tracts (varṣas)’ qualifying dvīpān
kakubhaḥthe directions
kakubhaḥ:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootkakubh (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Accusative, Plural; ‘directions/quarters’
sura-asurāngods and demons
sura-asurān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootsura (प्रातिपदिक) + asura (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; dvandva ‘gods and demons’
vanāniforests
vanāni:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootvana (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Plural; ‘forests’
deśānlands
deśān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootdeśa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; ‘countries/regions’
saritaḥrivers
saritaḥ:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootsarit (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Accusative, Plural; ‘rivers’
purākarānancient (sources/treasures)
purākarān:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeAdjective
Rootpurākara (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; tatpuruṣa ‘purā + ākara’ = ‘ancient mines/treasuries; ancient sources’ qualifying saritaḥ/deśān etc. (context: ancient cities/mines)
kheṭāntowns
kheṭān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootkheṭa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; ‘towns/fortified places’
vrajānvillages/hamlets
vrajān:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootvraja (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Plural; ‘settlements/cowherd hamlets’
āśrama-varṇa-vṛttayaḥāśramas, varṇas, and livelihoods
āśrama-varṇa-vṛttayaḥ:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootāśrama (प्रातिपदिक) + varṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + vṛtti (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Accusative, Plural; dvandva-like enumeration ‘āśramāḥ, varṇāḥ, vṛttayaḥ’ (stages of life, social orders, occupations)
mahāntigreat
mahānti:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeAdjective
Rootmahant (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Plural; ‘great’ qualifying bhūtāni
bhūtānibeings/elements
bhūtāni:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootbhūta (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Plural; ‘beings/elements’
athaand also
atha:
Nipāta (निपात)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootatha (अव्यय)
FormAvyaya; connective ‘and then/also’
bhautikānimaterial
bhautikāni:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeAdjective
Rootbhautika (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Plural; ‘material/elemental’ qualifying bhūtāni (or separate set)
asauhe
asau:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootasau (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular; demonstrative ‘that one/he’ (subject)
kālamtime
kālam:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootkāla (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular; ‘time’
caand
ca:
Nipāta (निपात)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootca (अव्यय)
FormConjunction (समुच्चय) ‘and’
nānā-yuga-kalpa-kalpanamthe arrangement of various ages and kalpas
nānā-yuga-kalpa-kalpanam:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootnānā (अव्यय/विशेषण) + yuga (प्रातिपदिक) + kalpa (प्रातिपदिक) + kalpana (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular; tatpuruṣa: ‘various yugas and kalpas’ + ‘their arrangement/formation’
yatwhatever
yat:
Karma (कर्म; object within relative clause)
TypeNoun
Rootyat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular; relative pronoun ‘whatever’ introducing clause
kiñcitanything
kiñcit:
Karma (कर्म; indefinite object)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootkiñcit (सर्वनाम/अव्यय)
FormIndeclinable pronominal ‘anything/something’ (used with yat)
anyatother
anyat:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeAdjective
Rootanya (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular; ‘other’ qualifying kiñcit
vyavahāra-kāraṇamthe cause of worldly activity
vyavahāra-kāraṇam:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootvyavahāra (प्रातिपदिक) + kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular; tatpuruṣa ‘cause of worldly dealings/transactions’
dadarśasaw
dadarśa:
Kriyā (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Root√dṛś (धातु)
FormPerfect (लिट्), 3rd Person, Singular; ‘saw’
viśvamthe universe
viśvam:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootviśva (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular; ‘the universe’
satreal/existent
sat:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeAdjective
Rootsat (कृदन्त; present participle from √as ‘to be’)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular; used predicatively with iva: ‘as if real/existent’ qualifying viśvam
ivaas if
iva:
Upamā (उपमा)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootiva (अव्यय)
FormAvyaya; simile particle ‘as if’
avabhāsitamappearing
avabhāsitam:
Karma-anvaya (कर्म-अन्वय)
TypeVerb
Rootava+√bhās (धातु)
FormPast passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Accusative, Singular; ‘manifested/appearing’ qualifying viśvam
N
Nārāyaṇa
M
Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi

FAQs

This verse describes a comprehensive vision of the cosmos—worlds, directions, gods and demons, lands and societies—indicating that the Lord’s māyā can reveal the entire manifested order as an object of perception.

Śukadeva explains Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi’s extraordinary experience to show how the Supreme Lord’s energy can display the full universe and its social-religious structures, emphasizing the Lord’s supremacy over creation and perception.

By recognizing that worldly arrangements—nature, society, and status—are part of a vast, temporary manifestation, one can cultivate detachment and redirect attention toward devotion to the Supreme Lord, the controller of māyā.