Adhyaya 87
Mārkaṇḍeya instructs the king to go to an exceedingly auspicious tīrtha on the bank of the Revā (Narmadā) called R̥ṇamocana, famed for removing spiritual “debts.” The chapter presents the site as founded by assemblies of sages of Brahmā’s lineage, thereby affirming its ritual authority and sanctity. The teaching focuses on the release from debts (ṛṇa) through devotional observance. One who, for six months, performs pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water-offerings to the ancestors) with faith and bathes in the waters of the Narmadā is said to be freed from obligations owed to gods, ancestors, and human beings. The text further declares that the fruits of actions—even demerit—become “visible” there like fruit on a tree, underscoring moral causality. The prescribed conduct is single-mindedness, restraint of the senses, ritual bathing, charitable giving, and worship of Girijā-pati (Śiva). The promised result is liberation from the “three debts” (ṛṇa-traya) and a radiant, deva-like state in heaven.
Shlokas
Verse 1
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच । ततो गच्छेन्महीपाल तीर्थं परमशोभनम् । स्थापितं मुनिसङ्घैर्यद्ब्रह्मवंशसमुद्भवैः
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Then, O king, one should go to a supremely beautiful sacred ford (tīrtha), established by assemblies of sages who were born in the lineage of Brahmā.”
Verse 2
ऋणमोचनमित्याख्यं रेवातटसमाश्रितम् । षण्मासं मनुजो भक्त्या तर्पयन् पितृदेवताः
“It is called Ṛṇamocana (‘the Liberator from Debts’), situated upon the bank of the Revā. For six months, a person—devoutly offering tarpaṇa—should satisfy the Pitṛ-deities (the ancestral powers).”
Verse 3
देवैः पितृमनुष्यैश्च ऋणमात्मकृतं च यत् । मुच्यते तत्क्षणान्मर्त्यः स्नातो वै नर्मदाजले
“Whatever debt one has incurred—toward the gods, the ancestors, and other humans—a mortal is freed from it at that very moment, once he bathes in the waters of the Narmadā.”
Verse 4
प्रत्यक्षं दुरितं तत्र दृश्यते फलरूपतः । तत्र तीर्थे तु यो राजन्नेकचित्तो जितेन्द्रियः
There, sin is seen directly—taking form as its consequence. And at that tīrtha, O king, whoever is single-minded and self-controlled…
Verse 5
स्नात्वा दानं च वै दद्यादर्चयेद्गिरिजापतिम् । ऋणत्रयविनिर्मुक्तो नाके दीप्यति देववत्
Having bathed, one should indeed give charity and worship the Lord of Girijā (Śiva). Freed from the threefold debts, he shines in heaven like a god.
Verse 87
। अध्याय
Chapter — end-marker (colophon indicator).