Shloka 20
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Consolation to the King: Exempla of Rāma and the Efficacy of Allies (मार्कण्डेयाश्वासनम्)
खर और शूर्पणखा ये दोनों प्रसन्नमनसे तपस्यामें लगे हुए अपने भाइयोंकी परिचर्या तथा रक्षा करते थे ।। पूर्णे वर्षमहस्रे तु शिरश्छित्त्वा दशानन: । जुहोत्यग्नौ दुराधर्षस्तेनातुष्यज्जगत्प्र भु:
pūrṇe varṣa-sahasre tu śiraś chittvā daśānanaḥ | juhoty agnau durādharṣas tenātūṣyaj jagat-prabhuḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Khara und Śūrpaṇakhā, beide frohen Sinnes, dienten ihren Brüdern, die in Askese versunken waren, und schützten sie. Als volle tausend Jahre vollendet waren, hieb Daśānana (Rāvaṇa), der Unbezwingbare, sich selbst den Kopf ab und brachte ihn im Opferfeuer dar; durch diese äußerste Kasteiung wurde der Herr der Welt zufrieden.“
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the potency of sustained tapas and sacrificial resolve: intense self-discipline and offering can win divine favor. Ethically, it also implies that spiritual power gained through austerity must be governed by dharma, since tapas can empower both righteous and unrighteous aims.
After a thousand years of austerity, Rāvaṇa performs an extreme act—cutting off his head and offering it into the sacrificial fire. This extraordinary oblation pleases the Jagat-prabhu (the cosmic Lord), setting the stage for divine response (typically in the form of a boon) within the larger Markandeya narration.