Shloka 16

उत्तङ्कोपाख्यानप्रारम्भः — Uttanka’s Tapas, Viṣṇu-stuti, and the Dhundhumāra Prophecy

Opening

Devanagari script

एतत्‌ ते सर्वमाख्यातमतीतानागतं तथा । वायुप्रोक्तमनुस्मृत्य पुराणमृषिसंस्तुतम्‌,राजन! ऋषियोंद्वारा प्रशंसित तथा वायुदेवद्वारा वर्णित पुराणकी बातोंका स्मरण करके मैंने तुमसे यह भूत-भविष्यका सारा वृत्तान्त बताया है

Transliteration

etat te sarvam ākhyātam atītānāgataṃ tathā | vāyu-proktam anusmṛtya purāṇam ṛṣi-saṃstutam, rājan |

Translation

قال ماركاندييا: «وهكذا قصصتُ عليك هذا كله—ما مضى وما هو آتٍ. وإذ أستحضر الرواية البورانية القديمة (Purāṇa)، التي أثنى عليها الرِّشِيّون (ṛṣi) وأعلنها فايُو (Vāyu)، فقد رويتُ لك هذا الخبر بأسره، أيها الملك.»

Word by Word

• {'etat': 'this (matter, account)', 'te': 'to you', 'sarvam': 'all, the whole', 'ākhyātam': 'has been narrated/told', 'atīta': 'past', 'anāgata': 'future, yet to come', 'tathā': 'and also

• likewise', 'vāyu-proktam': 'spoken/proclaimed by Vāyu (the Wind-god)', 'anusmṛtya': 'having recalled

• remembering', 'purāṇam': 'ancient tradition

• Purāṇic narrative', 'ṛṣi-saṃstutam': 'praised/commended by the ṛṣis (seers)', 'rājan': 'O king'}

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Vāyu
• Ṛṣis
• the King (rājan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the authority of sacred tradition: a truthful account gains weight when it is remembered from an ancient Purāṇic source, affirmed by ṛṣis, and attributed to a divine revealer (Vāyu). It models responsible transmission—speaking after recollection and grounding one’s words in respected lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya concludes a long narration to the king, stating that he has conveyed the complete account spanning past and future, based on a Purāṇic tradition associated with Vāyu and praised by the seers.