Shloka 61

Adhyaya 49 — Cosmic Dissolution

Sanskrit

तेनौषधेन वर्तन्ते प्रजास्त्रेतायुगॆ मुने ।

रागलोभौ समासाद्य प्रजाश्चाकस्मिकौ तदा ॥

Transliteration

tenauṣadhena vartante prajā́s tretāyuge mune /

rāga-lobhau samāsādya prajāś cākasmikau tadā //

Translation

وبذلك الغذاء من الأعشاب عاشت المخلوقات في عصر تريتَا، أيها الحكيم. ثم لما نشأ التعلّقُ والطمعُ اندفعت المخلوقات فجأةً بهذه العيوب.

Word by Word

• tena: by that
• tena: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter/Masculine (नपुंसक/पुं), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• auṣadhena: by the herb/medicine
• auṣadhena: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: auṣadha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• vartante: live/continue/exist
• vartante: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vṛt (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद)

• prajāḥ: creatures/people
• prajāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prajā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• tretā-yuge: in the Tretā age
• tretā-yuge: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tretā (प्रातिपदिक) + yuga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुष 'in the Tretā age'

• mune: O sage
• mune: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular (एकवचन)

• rāga-lobhau: passion and greed
• rāga-lobhau: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāga (प्रातिपदिक) + lobha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Dual (द्विवचन); द्वन्द्व 'passion and greed'

• samāsādya: having attained/encountered
• samāsādya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sam-ā-√sad (धातु) + lyap (ल्यप्)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वान्त/ल्यपन्त), indeclinable; 'having approached/attained'

• prajāḥ: people/creatures
• prajāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prajā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• ākasmikau: sudden/unexpected
• ākasmikau: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ākasmika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Dual (द्विवचन); agrees with rāga-lobhau understood as subject of implied clause

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (कालवाचक-अव्यय)

Speakers

• Narrative voice within Markandeya Purana (frame not explicit in given excerpt)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "karuna", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Yuga doctrine
• Ethics
• Kleśas (passion/greed)
• Decline from natural abundance

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Even in an age of abundance, inner faults (rāga, lobha) can corrupt right relationship with resources. The text frames ecological/social imbalance as beginning in the psyche.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Manvantara/Yuga description with an ethical inflection; it explains how decline unfolds within cosmic time-cycles.

What is the esoteric significance?

Herbs symbolize sattvic sustenance; the intrusion of rāga-lobha indicates tamasic/rajasic agitation that ‘consumes’ equilibrium, foreshadowing scarcity as a mirror of inner grasping.