Shloka 53
अध्याय १९० — वामदेव-वाम्य-वृत्तान्तः
The Vāmadeva Horses Episode and the Ethics of Promise
अस्यैव वरदानाद्धि स्मृतिर्न प्रजहाति माम् । दीर्घमायुश्न कौन्तेय स्वच्छन्दमरणं मम,कुन्तीनन्दन! इन्हींके वरदानसे मुझे पूर्वजन्मकी स्मृति भूलती नहीं है। मेरी दीर्घकालीन आयु और स्वच्छन्द मृत्यु भी इन्हींकी कृपाका प्रसाद है
asyaiva varadānād dhi smṛtir na prajahāti mām | dīrgham āyuṣman kaunteya svacchanda-maraṇaṁ mama ||
Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Wahrlich, durch den Segen, den Er allein verlieh, verlässt mich mein Gedächtnis nicht — ich verliere nicht die Erinnerung an meine früheren Geburten. O langlebiger Sohn der Kuntī, mein Leben ist verlängert worden, und selbst mein Tod steht in meiner eigenen Wahl, alles durch Seine Gnade.“
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the power of divine boon and grace: spiritual attainments such as unbroken remembrance (including past-life memory), longevity, and even mastery over the timing of death are portrayed as gifts arising from a higher source, reinforcing humility and devotion alongside ascetic merit.
Sage Mārkaṇḍeya speaks to Yudhiṣṭhira (Kaunteya), explaining that his extraordinary qualities—retaining memory across births, living for a very long time, and being able to choose the moment of death—come from a boon granted by the deity he reveres.