Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 50, Shloka 47
Adhyaya 50 — Mind-Born Progeny, Svayambhuva Manu’s Lineage, and Brahmā’s Ordinance to Duḥsaha (Alakṣmī’s Retinue)
उदक्योपहतं भुक्तमुदक्या दृष्टमेव च ।
यच्चोपघातवत् किञ्चिद् भक्ष्यं पेयमथापि वा ॥
udakyopahataṃ bhuktam udakyā dṛṣṭam eva ca | yaccopaghātavat kiñcid bhakṣyaṃ peyam athāpi vā ||
“Food that has been tainted by an udakyā (a woman in menstruation-related impurity), and food that has merely been seen by an udakyā; and anything whatsoever, edible or drinkable, that is connected with ‘harm/defect’—that too is (assigned) to you.”
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FAQs
The passage reflects traditional purity-regulations: it portrays ‘defect/taint’ as nourishment for Duḥsaha, reinforcing the ideal of careful household boundaries around food and ritual states. In ethical terms, it warns that disregard for codes of restraint and cleanliness strengthens degrading tendencies.
Primarily ācāra-dharma material presented through allegory; not genealogical or manvantara chronology.
On an inner reading, ‘tainted by contact/attention’ suggests that what the mind habitually attends to (dṛṣṭa) can also ‘taint’ it. Guarding perception is part of guarding purity.