Shloka 28

Adhyaya 45 — Jaimini’s Cosmological Questions and the Opening of Markandeya’s Account of Primary Creation

Sanskrit

ब्रह्माणमादिपुरुषमुत्पत्तिस्थितिसंयमे ।

यत्कारणमनौपम्यं यत्र सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥

Transliteration

brahmāṇam ādi-puruṣam utpatti-sthiti-saṃyame |

yat-kāraṇam anaupamyaṃ yatra sarvaṃ pratiṣṭhitam ||

Translation

(Je me prosterne devant) Brahmā, la Personne primordiale—dont la puissance causale œuvre dans la création, le maintien et la résorption—sans égale, et en qui tout est établi.

Word by Word

• ब्रह्माणम्: Brahmā
• ब्रह्माणम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘Brahmā’ (object of salutation/description)

• आदिपुरुषम्: the primordial person
• आदिपुरुषम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदि (प्रातिपदिक) + पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः ‘the primordial person’

• उत्पत्ति-स्थिति-संयमे: in creation, preservation, and dissolution/restraint
• उत्पत्ति-स्थिति-संयमे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उत्पत्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थिति (प्रातिपदिक) + संयम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (उत्पत्तिः च स्थितिः च संयमः च) locative ‘in creation, maintenance, and restraint/dissolution’

• यत्: which
• यत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; relative pronoun ‘which’

• कारणम्: cause
• कारणम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘cause’

• अनौपम्यम्: incomparable
• अनौपम्यम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनौपम्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; adjective ‘incomparable’

• यत्र: wherein
• यत्र: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय; relative adverb ‘wherein/where’

• सर्वम्: everything
• सर्वम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘everything’

• प्रतिष्ठितम्: is established
• प्रतिष्ठितम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-स्था (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; past passive participle ‘is established’

Speakers

• Narrator-speaker offering theological identification before doctrinal enumeration

Primary Deities

• Brahmā

Key Themes

• Trimodal cosmic function (sṛṣṭi-sthiti-laya)
• Ground of being
• Purāṇic theism
• Cosmology

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The cosmos is portrayed as ordered and intelligible because it rests on a single grounding principle; ethically, this encourages responsibility and alignment with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma).

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Sarga/Pratisarga: it identifies the causal basis for creation and dissolution, preparing for a systematic account of tattvas and emanation.

What is the esoteric significance?

Creation–maintenance–withdrawal can be read as the three states of experience (arising, persisting, subsiding) within consciousness; the ‘ādi-puruṣa’ is the witnessing ground in which all states are established.