Shloka 1
Adhyaya 70 — The King Confronts the Rakshasa and Restores the Brahmin’s Wife
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे औत्तममन्वन्तरे एकोनसप्ततितमोऽध्यायः । सप्ततितमोऽध्यायः- ७० । मार्कण्डेय उवाच । अथारुरोह स्वरथं प्रणिपत्य महामुनिम् । तेनाख्यातं वनं तच्च प्रययावुत्पलावतम् ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyapurāṇe auttamamanvantare ekonasaptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ / saptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ- 70 / mārkaṇḍeya uvāca athāruroha svarathaṃ praṇipatya mahāmunim / tenākhyātaṃ vanam antaś ca prayayāv utpalāvatam
Así, en el Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, en el Auttama-manvantara, concluye el capítulo sexagésimo noveno; comienza el capítulo septuagésimo. Dijo Mārkaṇḍeya: Entonces montó en su propio carro; tras inclinarse ante el gran sabio, partió hacia aquel bosque que le había señalado, hacia Utpalāvataka.
FAQs
Right action follows right reverence: the king bows to wisdom (mahāmuni) and then acts decisively, showing the ideal sequence—humility, instruction, execution.
Manvantara: explicit placement within Auttama-manvantara; the colophon anchors the narrative in Purāṇic time-structure.
The ‘journey to the forest’ indicates movement from courtly order into the testing-ground of the unknown—where dharma must be enacted, not merely proclaimed.