Shloka 17

उत्तङ्कोपाख्यानप्रारम्भः — Uttanka’s Tapas, Viṣṇu-stuti, and the Dhundhumāra Prophecy

Opening

Devanagari script

एवं संसारमार्गा मे बहुशश्चिरजीविना । दृष्टाश्वैवानुभूताश्व तांस्ते कथितवानहम्‌,इस प्रकार चिरजीवी होनेके कारण मैंने संसारके मार्गोका अनेक बार दर्शन और अनुभव किया है, जिनका तुम्हारे समक्ष वर्णन कर दिया है

Transliteration

evaṁ saṁsāra-mārgā me bahuśaś cirajīvinā | dṛṣṭāś caivānubhūtāś ca tāṁs te kathitavān aham ||

Translation

Markandeya said: “Thus, by virtue of my long life, I have many times beheld and personally experienced the various paths and courses of worldly existence; and I have now recounted those to you.”

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this way

संसार-मार्गाःpaths/ways of worldly existence

मेof me, my

बहुशःmany times, repeatedly

चिरजीविनाby (me) long-lived; as a long-lived one

दृष्टाःseen

चand

एवindeed, just

अनुभूताःexperienced

चand

तान्those (paths/ways)

तेto you

कथितवान्having told, narrated

अहम्I

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True guidance about dharma and worldly life is grounded in direct observation and lived experience; the sage presents his counsel as tested knowledge of saṁsāra’s many courses.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya concludes a section of instruction by stating that, as a long-lived seer, he has repeatedly witnessed and experienced the ways of the world and has now narrated them to his listener.