Shloka 2

Adhyaya 76 — The Sixth Manvantara: Cakshusha Manu, the Child-Snatcher, and the Problem of Kinship

Sanskrit

अन्यजन्मनि जातो 'सौ चाक्षुषः परमेṣ्ठिनः ।

चाक्षुषत्वमतस्तस्य जन्मन्यस्मिन्नपि द्विज ॥

Transliteration

anyajanmani jāto 'sau cākṣuṣaḥ parameṣṭhinaḥ / cākṣuṣatvam atas tasya janmany asminn api dvija //

Translation

অন্য জন্মে সে পরমেষ্ঠী (ব্রহ্মা)-পুত্র ‘চাক্ষুষ’ নামে জন্মেছিল। অতএব, হে দ্বিজ, এই জন্মেও তার মধ্যে ‘চাক্ষুষত্ব’ অবস্থিত।

Word by Word

• anya-janmani: in another birth
• anya-janmani: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुषः (विशेषण-विशेष्यभावः)

• jātaḥ: born
• jātaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; agrees with subject

• asau: that (person), he
• asau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• cākṣuṣaḥ: Cākṣuṣa
• cākṣuṣaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cākṣuṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; proper name/epithet

• parameṣṭhinaḥ: of Parameṣṭhin (Brahmā)
• parameṣṭhinaḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parameṣṭhin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• cākṣuṣatvam: the state of being Cākṣuṣa
• cākṣuṣatvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cākṣuṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + -tva (त्व)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; abstract noun (भाववाचक)

• ataḥ: therefore, hence
• ataḥ: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Indeclinable (अव्यय), adverbial particle (हेतु/तस्मात्-अर्थे)

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• janmani: in (this) birth
• janmani: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular

• asmin: in this
• asmin: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Demonstrative pronoun used adjectivally (विशेषणवत्), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; agrees with janmani

• api: also, even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Indeclinable (अव्यय), particle (समुच्चय/अपि-अर्थे)

• dvija: O twice-born (brahmin)
• dvija: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular

Speakers

• Narrative voice (Purāṇic narrator) addressing a dvija (likely within the birds’ dialogue frame of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa).

Primary Deities

• Brahmā (Parameṣṭhin)

Key Themes

• Rebirth
• Jātismara
• Identity across births
• Purāṇic genealogy

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse establishes continuity of saṃskāra and identity across births: prior attainments and roles can leave impressions that manifest again, preparing the ground for the jātismara child’s discernment.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Primarily Vaṃśa/Vaṃśānucarita (genealogy and accounts of lineages/persons), with an implicit karmic-rebirth teaching supporting dharma-narrative aims.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Cākṣuṣa’ (linked with ‘sight’) hints at inner vision: memory of prior births functions as a form of subtle ‘seeing’—discriminative insight that will expose hidden motives.