Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 73, Shloka 12

Adhyaya 73 — The Uttama Manvantara: Classes of Devas, Indra Sushanti, and the Royal Lineage

Sanskrit

चतुर्युगानां संख्याता साधिका ह्येकसप्ततिः ।

कृतत्रेतादिसंज्ञानां यान्युक्तानि युगे मया ॥

Transliteration

caturyugānāṃ saṃkhyātā sādhikā hy ekasaptatiḥ | kṛtatretādisaṃjñānāṃ yāny uktāni yuge mayā ||

Translation

The number of caturyugas is stated as a little more than seventy-one—those yugas bearing the names Kṛta, Tretā, and so on, which I have described as yugas.

Word by Word

• चतुर्-युगानाम्: of the four-yugas (caturyugas)
• चतुर्-युगानाम्: सम्बन्ध (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर् (प्रातिपदिक) + युग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (संख्या-पूर्वपद; ‘चत्वारि युगानि’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• संख्याता: is reckoned/numbered
• संख्याता: विशेषण (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संख्यात (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √ख्या (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-एकवचन; ‘(संख्या) ज्ञाता/निर्धारिता’

• साधिका: and a little more (additional)
• साधिका: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: साधिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; ‘अधिक’ अर्थे

• हि: indeed
• हि: सम्बन्ध (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle) — emphasis/indeed

• एक-सप्ततिः: seventy-one
• एक-सप्ततिः: कर्ता/विधेय (Predicate nominal)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक) + सप्तति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगुसमास (numeral compound); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• कृत-त्रेता-आदि-संज्ञानाम्: of those having the names ‘Kṛta, Tretā, etc.’
• कृत-त्रेता-आदि-संज्ञानाम्: सम्बन्ध (Genitive/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृत (प्रातिपदिक) + त्रेता (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + संज्ञा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास (समाहार/निर्देश: ‘कृतत्रेता-आदि’ इत्येषां संज्ञाः); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• यानि: which (things)
• यानि: कर्म (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; relative pronoun — here object of ‘उक्तानि’ (things said)

• उक्तानि: were said
• उक्तानि: क्रिया (Predicative; passive)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √वच् (धातु) + क्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-बहुवचन; agrees with ‘यानि’

• युगे: in the yuga
• युगे: अधिकरण (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• मया: by me
• मया: कर्ता (Agent in passive/कर्तृ)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम; तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

Speakers

• Puranic narrator

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Chronology
• Yuga system

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Human history is placed within vast, measurable cycles; this scale relativizes individual events and emphasizes long-term dharmic continuity across recurring ages.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Manvantara: purāṇas commonly quantify manvantara-duration in terms of caturyuga counts.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘71 plus’ formulation points to transitional periods (sandhyā/sandhyāṃśa) around yuga/manvantara boundaries—liminal times where order is reconstituted.