Adhyaya 72 — The Reconciliation Rite, Sarasvati Sacrifice, and the Birth of Uttama Manu (Auttama Manvantara Prelude)
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे औत्तममन्वन्तरे एकसप्ततितमोऽध्यायः ।
द्विसप्ततितमोऽध्यायः- ७२
मार्कण्डेय उवाच ततः स्वनगरं प्राप्य तं ददर्श द्विजं नृपः ।
समेतं भार्यया चैव शीलवत्या मुदान्वितम् ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyapurāṇe auttamamanvantare ekasaptatitamo ’dhyāyaḥ | dvisaptatitamo ’dhyāyaḥ—72 | mārkaṇḍeya uvāca tataḥ svanagaraṃ prāpya taṃ dadarśa dvijaṃ nṛpaḥ | sametaṃ bhāryayā caiva śīlavatyā mudānvitam ||
Thus, in the Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, in the Auttama Manvantara, the seventy-first chapter ends, and the seventy-second chapter begins. Mārkaṇḍeya said: Then, having reached his own city, the king saw that brāhmaṇa, accompanied by his wife—virtuous and filled with joy.
The scene validates dharmic restoration: the brāhmaṇa’s reunion with his virtuous wife is presented as a visibly joyous outcome when social and marital order is protected.
Manvantara (explicitly named) and Anucarita (episode narrative about exemplary persons and outcomes).
The ‘return to one’s city’ can symbolize return to ordered life after moral trial; the reunited couple reflects reintegration of right conduct (śīla) with lived experience (gṛhastha-āśrama).