Shloka 1
Adhyaya 45 — Jaimini’s Cosmological Questions and the Opening of Markandeya’s Account of Primary Creation
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे पितापुत्रसंवादे जडोपाख्यानं नाम चतुश्चत्वारिंशोऽध्यायः ।
जैमिनिरुवाच सम्यगेतनमाख्यातं भवद्भिर्द्विजसत्तमाः ।
प्रवृत्तं च निवृत्तं च द्विविधं कर्म वैदिकम् ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyapurāṇe pitāputra-saṃvāde jaḍopākhyānaṃ nāma catuścatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ /
jaiminir uvāca samyag etan mamākhyātaṃ bhavadbhir dvija-sattamāḥ /
pravṛttaṃ ca nivṛttaṃ ca dvi-vidhaṃ karma vaidikam
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, au sein du dialogue du père et du fils, s’achève le quarante-quatrième chapitre intitulé « L’épisode de Jaḍa ». Jaimini dit : « Ô le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, tu me l’as expliqué comme il convient. L’action védique est de deux sortes : la voie de l’engagement (pravṛtti) et la voie du retrait (nivṛtti). »
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FAQs
The Purāṇa harmonizes two legitimate Vedic orientations: pravṛtti (duty, society, ritual, ethical action) and nivṛtti (renunciation, inner freedom). The earlier story illustrates nivṛtti without denigrating dharma; here Jaimini explicitly recognizes the twofold framework.
This is classificatory dharma teaching rather than cosmology/genealogy. It functions as a hermeneutic key for reading Vedic prescriptions—some aim at ordered worldly life (pravṛtti), others at liberation (nivṛtti).
Pravṛtti and nivṛtti can be read as outward and inward yajña: the former offers actions into social order; the latter offers the sense of doership into Brahman. Both are ‘vaidika’ when aligned with truth and discipline.