Shloka 9

Matsya Purana — The Burning of Tripura: Maya’s Triple Fortresses and the Boon that Leads to S...

Devanagari script

अन्यदाचरिताहाराः पङ्केनाचितवल्कलाः मग्नाः शैवालपङ्केषु विमलाविमलेषु च //

Transliteration

anyadācaritāhārāḥ paṅkenācitavalkalāḥ magnāḥ śaivālapaṅkeṣu vimalāvimaleṣu ca //

Translation

They subsisted on whatever food they could obtain; their bark-garments were smeared and caked with mud. Sunk in slime and algae-choked mire, they remained—whether in places deemed pure or impure.

Word by Word

• अन्यदा (anyadā): otherwise/at other times, as circumstances allowed

• आचरित-आहाराः (ācarita-āhārāḥ): those whose food was what they managed to procure/whatever they practiced as sustenance

• पङ्केन (paṅkena): with mud/sludge

• आचित-वल्कलाः (ācita-valkalāḥ): having bark-cloths covered/smeared (with it)

• मग्नाः (magnāḥ): sunk/immersed/stuck

• शैवाल-पङ्केषु (śaivāla-paṅkeṣu): in algae-filled mire

• विमल-अविमलेषु (vimala-avimaleṣu): in clean and unclean places

• च (ca): and.

Speaker

• Lord Matsya (in discourse to Vaivasvata Manu)

Entities Mentioned

• Lord Matsya
• Vaivasvata Manu

Tags

• Pralaya
• Aftermath
• Austerity
• Survival
• Purification

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It depicts the immediate post-Pralaya condition: beings reduced to survival, physically mired in sludge and algae, with normal social and ritual order disrupted across both clean and unclean spaces.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

By showing life reduced to bare subsistence, it implicitly frames why Manu/kingly leadership must later restore order—food security, cleanliness, and dharmic norms—after catastrophic breakdown.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

Ritually, it highlights the collapse of purity boundaries (vimala/avimala), implying that re-establishing purification rites and properly demarcated clean spaces becomes necessary before settled worship or construction resumes.