Shloka 7
भद्रवटगमनम् — स्कन्देन महिषदानवनिग्रहः
Bhadravaṭa Procession and Skanda’s Neutralization of Mahiṣa
बृहद् रथन्तरं मूर्थ्नों वक्त्राद् वा तरसाहरौ । शिवं नाभ्यां बलादिन्द्रं वाय्वग्नी प्राणतोडसृजत्
bṛhad rathantaraṃ mūrdhno vaktrād vā tarasāharau | śivaṃ nābhyāṃ balād indraṃ vāyvagnī prāṇato 'sṛjat ||
Mārkaṇḍeya dit : De sa tête il fit naître le Sāman nommé Bṛhat, et de sa bouche le Sāman nommé Rathantara ; tous deux, prompts dans leur puissance, d’où leur nom de « tarasā-hara », ‘ceux qui ravissent par la vitesse’. Puis, de son nombril il produisit Śiva (Rudra) ; de sa force, Indra ; et de son souffle vital, Vāyu et Agni.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the gods and Vedic chants as emanations of a single cosmic source, mapping divinities to human and cosmic functions—speech (mouth), cognition/authority (head), inner center (navel), strength, and vital breath. Ethically, it implies that life is sustained by ordered powers and that reverence for prāṇa, speech, and sacrificial fire aligns one with cosmic order (dharma/ṛta).
Mārkaṇḍeya describes a sequence of creation: first the Sāmavedic chants Bṛhat and Rathantara emerge (from head and mouth), then major deities arise from bodily principles—Śiva from the navel, Indra from strength, and Vāyu and Agni from the vital breath—presenting a structured cosmogony where divine roles originate in fundamental life-forces.