Shloka 3
मातापितृपूजन-प्रधानधर्मः (Primacy of Filial Service) — Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of the Vyādha’s Instruction
देवदानवयक्षाणां सर्पगन्धर्वरक्षसाम् । अवध्यो5हं भवेयं वै वर एष वृतो मया,“'भगवन्! मैं देवता, दानव, यक्ष, सर्प, गन्धर्व और राक्षस किसीके हाथसे न मारा जाऊँ। मैंने आपसे यही वर माँगा है”
devadānavayakṣāṇāṃ sarpagandharvarakṣasām | avadhyo 'haṃ bhaveyaṃ vai vara eṣa vṛto mayā ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O Blessed Lord, I have chosen this boon: that I should be invulnerable—never to be slain by devas, dānavas, yakṣas, serpents, gandharvas, or rākṣasas.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the epic motif of boons: a seeker carefully specifies the scope of protection. Ethically, it suggests that power gained through divine favor must be framed with precision and responsibility, since boons can shape one’s fate and the moral consequences of one’s actions.
Mārkaṇḍeya addresses the Lord and states the boon he has chosen: immunity from being killed by various classes of supernatural beings—devas, dānavas, yakṣas, serpents, gandharvas, and rākṣasas—thereby establishing his extraordinary protection within the story’s cosmological order.