Shloka 59

Adhyaya 49 — Primordial Human Creation, the Rise of Desire, and the Origins of Settlements, Measures, and Agriculture

Sanskrit

ततो भूमेश्च संयोगादोषध्यस्तास्तदा भवन् ।

अफालकृष्टाश्चानुप्ता ग्राम्यारण्याश्चतुर्दश ॥

Transliteration

tato bhūmeś ca saṃyogād oṣadhyas tās tadā bhavan /

aphāla-kṛṣṭāś cānuptā grāmyāraṇyāś caturdaśa //

Translation

Then, through the conjunction of the earth with those waters, herbs arose at that time—neither ploughed with a ploughshare nor sown—of two kinds, cultivated and wild, reckoned as fourteen.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then/thereupon
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रमवाचक-अव्यय)

• bhūmeḥ: of the earth
• bhūmeḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• saṃyogāt: from contact/union
• saṃyogāt: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃyoga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• oṣadhyaḥ: herbs/plants
• oṣadhyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: oṣadhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• tāḥ: those
• tāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• tadā: at that time
• tadā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (कालवाचक-अव्यय)

• bhavan: came into being
• bhavan: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद); Vedic/epic variant for 'abhavan'

• a-phāla-kṛṣṭāḥ: not ploughed
• a-phāla-kṛṣṭāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a- (नञ्) + phāla (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛṣṭa (√kṛṣ, क्त)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); नञ्-तत्पुरुष 'not plough-tilled'

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• anuptāḥ: unsown
• anuptāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anu-√vap (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• grāmya-araṇyāḥ: domestic and wild
• grāmya-araṇyāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: grāmya (प्रातिपदिक) + araṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); द्वन्द्व 'domestic and wild' (as classes)

• caturdaśa: fourteen
• caturdaśa: Saṅkhyā-viśeṣaṇa (संख्याविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: caturdaśa (संख्याप्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Numeral (संख्या), indeclinable-like in form; used adjectivally with plural noun; द्विगु 'fourteen'

Speakers

• Narrative voice within Markandeya Purana (frame not explicit in given excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Botany (Puranic taxonomy)
• Origins of food
• Sustenance

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Life-supporting resources are presented as primordial gifts, not solely human manufacture. Cultivation refines what already exists; gratitude and restraint are implied ethical responses to abundance.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Sarga and Poṣaṇa: creation of plant life and its role in sustaining beings.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘unsown, unploughed’ herbs suggest spontaneous inner capacities (siddhi/guṇa) that arise when the ‘earth’ (body) and ‘water’ (vitality) are harmonized, prior to deliberate effort.