Adhyaya 70
Mārkaṇḍeya describes a “supremely splendid” tīrtha on the northern bank of the Revā (Narmadā), said to have been established by Ravi, the Sun. It is praised as a means of pāpa-kṣaya (the wearing away of sin) and as a site of enduring solar presence, for Bhāskara is declared to abide there by a portion of himself (svāṁśena) upon the northern shore. A calendrical discipline is then given: perform sacred bathing (snāna) on specified lunar days—especially the sixth (ṣaṣṭhī), eighth (aṣṭamī), and fourteenth (caturdaśī)—and offer śrāddha with devotion for the departed (preteṣu bhaktitaḥ). The fruit is stated in stages: immediate purification and exaltation in Sūrya-loka, followed by return from heaven to birth in a “pure family,” endowed with wealth and freedom from disease across many lives. Thus the chapter binds place, time, rite, and karmic outcome into a compact tīrtha-māhātmya instruction.
Shlokas
Verse 1
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । रेवाया उत्तरे कूले तीर्थं परमशोभनम् । रविणा निर्मितं पार्थ सर्वपापक्षयंकरम्
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: O son of Pṛthā, on the northern bank of the Revā there is a supremely splendid tīrtha, established by Ravi, the Sun, which brings about the destruction of all sins.
Verse 2
स्वांशेन भास्करस्तत्र तिष्ठते चोत्तरे तटे । सर्वव्याधिहरः पुंसां नर्मदायां व्यवस्थितः
There, on the northern bank, Bhāskara abides by a portion of his own essence; established on the Narmadā, he removes all diseases of men.
Verse 3
षष्ठ्यांषष्ठ्यां नृपश्रेष्ठ ह्यष्टम्यां च चतुर्दशीम् । स्नानं यः कारयेन्मर्त्यः श्राद्धं प्रेतेषु भक्तितः । तस्य पापक्षयः पार्थ सूर्यलोके महीयते
O best of kings: on the sixth day (ṣaṣṭhī), again on the sixth, and on the eighth and the fourteenth, whatever mortal bathes and, with devotion, offers śrāddha for the departed, O Pārtha, his sins are destroyed and he is honored in the world of Sūrya.
Verse 4
ततः स्वर्गाच्च्युतः सोऽपि जायते विमले कुले । धनाढ्यो व्याधिनिर्मुक्तो जीवेज्जन्मनिजन्मनि
Then, even when he falls from heaven, he is born in a pure family—wealthy, freed from disease—and lives well, birth after birth.
Verse 70
। अध्याय
End of the chapter (adhyāya).