Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 25, Shloka 17

Adhyaya 25 — Madālāsā’s Return, Royal Succession, and the First Teaching to Vikrānta

Sanskrit

हासोऽस्थिसन्दर्शनमक्षियुग्ममत्युज्ज्वलं तर्जनमङ्गनायाः ।

कुचादिपीनं पिशितं घनं तत्स्थानं रतेः किं नरकं न योषित् ॥

Transliteration

hāso 'sthisandarśanam akṣiyugmam atyujjvalaṃ tarjanam aṅganāyāḥ / kucādipīnaṃ piśitaṃ ghanaṃ tat sthānaṃ rateḥ kiṃ narakaṃ na yoṣit

Translation

নারীর হাসি কেবল অস্থির প্রদর্শন; তার উজ্জ্বল দুই চোখ তীক্ষ্ণ অঙ্কুশের মতো। স্তনাদি দ্বারা পূর্ণ সেই ঘন মাংসপিণ্ড—যদি সেটাই রাগের আসন হয়, তবে নারী কি (এভাবেই) নরক নয়?

Word by Word

• हासः: laughter
• हासः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• अस्थि-सन्दर्शनम्: a showing of bones (teeth)
• अस्थि-सन्दर्शनम्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्थि (प्रातिपदिक) + सन्दर्शन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (determinative; ‘asthīnām sandarśanam’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular) — हासः इत्यस्य विधेय/समनाधिकरणम्

• अक्षि-युग्मम्: a pair of eyes
• अक्षि-युग्मम्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्षि (प्रातिपदिक) + युग्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (determinative), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• अति-उज्ज्वलम्: very bright
• अति-उज्ज्वलम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति (अव्यय/उपसर्ग) + उज्ज्वल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular) — (अक्षियुग्मम्) इति विशेषणम्

• तर्जनम्: threatening/menacing gesture
• तर्जनम्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तर्जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• अङ्गनायाः: of a woman
• अङ्गनायाः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्गना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), षष्ठी (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• कुच-आदि-पीनम्: plump with breasts and the like
• कुच-आदि-पीनम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कुच (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक) + पीन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (determinative; ‘kucādayaḥ pīnāḥ yasmin’—elliptic), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular) — पिशितम् इति विशेषणम्

• पिशितम्: flesh
• पिशितम्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिशित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• घनम्: dense, thick
• घनम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular) — पिशितम् इति विशेषणम्

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• स्थानम्: abode, seat
• स्थानम्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• रतेः: of pleasure/sexual delight
• रतेः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), षष्ठी (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular)

• किम्: what? / is it (not)?
• किम्: Prashna (प्रश्न/Interrogative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative particle; used as ‘what?/is it?’)

• नरकम्: hell
• नरकम्: Karta (कर्ता/Predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध/Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation; here rhetorical with किम्)

• योषित्: a woman
• योषित्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: योषित् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

Speakers

• Madālasā to her child

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Vairagya
• Deha-vicāra (analysis of the body)
• Kāma (lust) critique
• Aśubha-bhāvanā (impurity contemplation)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse is an anti-lust contemplation: it shocks the mind out of fascination by recalling bodily materiality, urging mastery over kāma rather than objectifying fixation.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic/renunciatory counsel inside narrative; not pancalakṣaṇa cosmology or genealogy.

What is the esoteric significance?

It functions as a meditative reversal (viparīta-bhāvanā): the attractive is re-seen as perishable constituents, weakening rāga and supporting inner freedom.