Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 197

Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala

Sanskrit

श्मशानमागतः कस्मादद्यैष स नरेश्वरः ।

अपहाय पुत्रशोकं सापश्यत् पतितं पतिम् ॥

Transliteration

śmaśānam āgataḥ kasmād adyaiṣa sa nareśvaraḥ |

apahāya putra-śokaṃ sāpaśyat patitaṃ patim ||

Translation

“આ નરાધિપ આજે શ્મશાનમાં કેમ આવ્યો છે?” એમ કહી, પુત્રશોક છોડીને તેણે પોતાના પતિને જમીન પર પડેલો જોયો.

Word by Word

• śmaśānam: to the cremation-ground
• śmaśānam: Karma (कर्म; gati-karman)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śmaśāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); goal of motion

• āgataḥ: having come
• āgataḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया; participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√gam (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); ‘having come’

• kasmāt: why/from what reason
• kasmāt: Hetu (हेतु; cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular (एकवचन); interrogative ‘from what cause/why’

• adya: today/now
• adya: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (काल-अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb of time (कालवाचक-अव्यय)

• eṣaḥ: this (one)
• eṣaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• saḥ: that/he
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• nareśvaraḥ: the king
• nareśvaraḥ: Samānādhikaraṇa (समानाधिकरण; apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक) + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘lord of men/king’

• apahāya: having cast off
• apahāya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण; pūrvakāla)
• Type: Verb
• Root: apa-√hā (धातु) + lyap (ल्यप्)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (ल्यपन्त), from apa-√hā ‘to abandon’; ‘having abandoned’

• putra-śokam: grief for her son
• putra-śokam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक) + śoka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘grief for (one’s) son’

• sā: she
• sā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• apaśyat: saw
• apaśyat: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dṛś (धातु)
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन); parasmaipada

• patitam: fallen
• patitam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √pat (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); qualifies patim

• patim: her husband
• patim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

Speakers

• Narrative voice reflecting the queen’s perception

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Śmaśāna as crisis-point
• Double suffering (loss of child and husband’s fall)
• Sudden reversal of royal fortune

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse portrays compounded sorrow and the mind’s forced reprioritization in disaster—personal grief yields to a larger shock, illustrating how saṃsāra delivers layered trials.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic narrative (ākhyāna) rather than cosmological or genealogical pañcalakṣaṇa content.

What is the esoteric significance?

The cremation-ground symbolizes the truth of endings; meeting the ‘fallen king’ there dramatizes the stripping away of worldly sovereignty before mortality.