Shloka 86

Adhyaya 21 — Kuvalayashva’s Descent to Patala and the Rescue of Madalasa

Sanskrit

ज्वालामालातितीव्रेण स्फुटदस्थिचयाः कृताः ।

निर्दग्धाः कापिलं तेजः समासाद्येव सागराः ॥

Transliteration

jvālāmālātitīvreṇa sphuṭadasthicayāḥ kṛtāḥ / nirdagdhāḥ kāpilaṃ tejaḥ samāsādyeva sāgarāḥ

Translation

Durch einen überaus grimmigen Flammenkranz wurden sie zu Haufen zerschmetterter Knochen; verbrannt glichen sie Ozeanen, die dem feurigen Glanz Kapilas begegnet sind.

Word by Word

• jvālā-mālā-atitīvreṇa: by the extremely intense garland/chain of flames
• jvālā-mālā-atitīvreṇa: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jvālā (प्रातिपदिक) + mālā (प्रातिपदिक) + atitīvra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter/Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन); used adverbially as hetu/करणम्: ‘by/with (something) extremely intense’

• sphuṭat-asthi-cayāḥ: heaps of bones (splitting/cracking)
• sphuṭat-asthi-cayāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sphuṭat (धातु √sphuṭ, वर्तमानकृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + asthi (प्रातिपदिक) + caya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• kṛtāḥ: were made/formed
• kṛtāḥ: Karmaṇi-prayoga predicate (कर्मणि प्रयोग/PPP as predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त/कृत), Masculine, Nominative, Plural; agrees with sphuṭat-asthi-cayāḥ

• nirdagdhāḥ: were burnt up/consumed
• nirdagdhāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir-√dah (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Masculine, Nominative, Plural; agrees with sāgarāḥ

• kāpilaṃ: Kapila’s (fiery)
• kāpilaṃ: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāpila (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; qualifies tejaḥ

• tejaḥ: splendour/fiery energy
• tejaḥ: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tejas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• samāsādya: having reached/encountered
• samāsādya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण/Converb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-√sad (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), ‘having approached/attained’

• iva: as if/like
• iva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Comparative marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle of comparison (उपमा-अव्यय)

• sāgarāḥ: oceans
• sāgarāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural

Speakers

• Narrator voice within the Markandeya Purana’s running story (specific frame-speaker not identifiable from the provided verses alone)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Kapila (sage, by comparison)

Key Themes

• Heroic combat
• Simile from Itihāsa-Purāṇa tradition
• Destruction of demonic forces
• Fire imagery

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Adharma, when it confronts a superior, purifying force (here symbolized by irresistible flame), collapses into mere remnants; the verse stresses the inevitability of retribution and the fragility of violent power.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily Ākhyāna/Upākhyāna (narrative episode) rather than the core pañcalakṣaṇa headings; it supports dharma-teaching through heroic exemplum rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita exposition.

What is the esoteric significance?

Fire functions as the symbol of discriminative, consuming clarity: it reduces complex hostility to inert residue (bones). The Kapila-ocean simile recalls cosmic-scale purification—contact with truth/tejas annihilates accumulated negativity.