Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 23, Shloka 41
Adhyaya 23 — Ashvatara’s Vow for Madalasa and the Bestowal of Musical Science by Sarasvati
न चास्ये न च तज्जिह्वा ताम्रोष्ठादिभिरुच्यते ।
इन्द्रोऽपि वसवो ब्रह्मा चन्द्रार्कौ ज्योतिरेव च ॥
na cāsye na ca taj-jihvā tāmroṣṭhādibhir ucyate | indro 'pi vasavo brahmā candrārkau jyotir eva ca ||
There is no ‘mouth’ here, nor is there a ‘tongue’ as spoken of with red lips and the like (that is, no bodily apparatus can be predicated of that supreme reality). Even Indra, the Vasus, Brahmā, and the Moon and Sun are, in that regard, but light alone (derivative radiance).
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FAQs
Ultimate reality cannot be reduced to physical imagery; even the greatest gods are secondary manifestations. Ethically, it discourages superficial literalism and supports a deeper, more contemplative devotion.
Not a pancalakṣaṇa narrative unit; it is a doctrinal/theological passage that can undergird any creation or deity-hierarchy account by asserting a supreme source beyond form.
By negating mouth/tongue, the hymn points beyond articulated mantra to its silent source; ‘all are light’ suggests that deities and luminaries are rays of the one Śakti-consciousness.