Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 45, Shloka 28

Adhyaya 45 — Jaimini’s Cosmological Questions and the Opening of Markandeya’s Account of Primary Creation

Sanskrit

ब्रह्माणमादिपुरुषमुत्पत्तिस्थितिसंयमे ।

यत्कारणमनौपम्यं यत्र सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥

Transliteration

brahmāṇam ādi-puruṣam utpatti-sthiti-saṃyame |

yat-kāraṇam anaupamyaṃ yatra sarvaṃ pratiṣṭhitam ||

Translation

(I bow to) Brahmā, the primordial Person—whose causal power operates in creation, maintenance, and dissolution—matchless, and in whom all is established.

Word by Word

• ब्रह्माणम्: Brahmā
• ब्रह्माणम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘Brahmā’ (object of salutation/description)

• आदिपुरुषम्: the primordial person
• आदिपुरुषम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदि (प्रातिपदिक) + पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः ‘the primordial person’

• उत्पत्ति-स्थिति-संयमे: in creation, preservation, and dissolution/restraint
• उत्पत्ति-स्थिति-संयमे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उत्पत्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थिति (प्रातिपदिक) + संयम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (उत्पत्तिः च स्थितिः च संयमः च) locative ‘in creation, maintenance, and restraint/dissolution’

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; relative pronoun ‘which’

• कारणम्: cause
• कारणम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘cause’

• अनौपम्यम्: incomparable
• अनौपम्यम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनौपम्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; adjective ‘incomparable’

• यत्र: wherein
• यत्र: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय; relative adverb ‘wherein/where’

• सर्वम्: everything
• सर्वम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘everything’

• प्रतिष्ठितम्: is established
• प्रतिष्ठितम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-स्था (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; past passive participle ‘is established’

Speakers

• Narrator-speaker offering theological identification before doctrinal enumeration

Primary Deities

• Brahmā

Key Themes

• Trimodal cosmic function (sṛṣṭi-sthiti-laya)
• Ground of being
• Purāṇic theism
• Cosmology

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The cosmos is portrayed as ordered and intelligible because it rests on a single grounding principle; ethically, this encourages responsibility and alignment with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma).

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Sarga/Pratisarga: it identifies the causal basis for creation and dissolution, preparing for a systematic account of tattvas and emanation.

What is the esoteric significance?

Creation–maintenance–withdrawal can be read as the three states of experience (arising, persisting, subsiding) within consciousness; the ‘ādi-puruṣa’ is the witnessing ground in which all states are established.