Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 15, Shloka 42

Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell

Sanskrit

उपलक्ष्याणि जानीयान्मुक्तानां नरकादनु । दया भूतेषु संवादः परलोकप्रतिक्रिया ॥

Transliteration

upalakṣyāṇi jānīyān muktānāṃ narakād anu / dayā bhūteṣu saṃvādaḥ paraloka-pratikriyā

Translation

नरक से मुक्त हुए लोगों के लक्षण जानने चाहिए—प्राणियों के प्रति करुणा, मधुर एवं सामंजस्यपूर्ण व्यवहार, और परलोक के विषय में उचित दृष्टि (इस जीवन से परे फल का ध्यान रखकर कर्म करना)।

Word by Word

• उपलक्ष्याणि: to-be-recognized signs
• उपलक्ष्याणि: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उप-√लक्ष् (धातु) + य (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भाव्य/कर्तव्य-अर्थक कृदन्त (gerundive), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन; ‘to be noted/recognized’

• जानीयात्: should know
• जानीयात्: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ज्ञा (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• मुक्तानाम्: of the liberated (souls)
• मुक्तानाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: √मुच् (धातु) + त (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle) ‘मुक्त’; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन; पुं/नपुं/स्त्री—सन्दर्भानुसार (here: ‘of the liberated’)

• नरकात्: from hell
• नरकात्: Apadana (अपादान/Ablative-source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन

• अनु: after/thereafter
• अनु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अनु (अव्यय)
• Form: उपसर्ग/अव्यय (postposition/adverbial particle) ‘after/along’

• दया: compassion
• दया: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• भूतेषु: towards/in beings
• भूतेषु: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन

• संवादः: harmonious speech/dialogue
• संवादः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संवाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• परलोक-प्रतिक्रिया: conduct/response concerning the next world
• परलोक-प्रतिक्रिया: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परलोक (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रतिक्रिया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speakers

• Not specified in input

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Moral rehabilitation
• Compassion
• Right conduct and afterlife accountability

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The text offers a positive diagnostic: genuine moral recovery is seen in compassion, social harmony, and future-oriented accountability—virtues that counteract the earlier catalogue of cruelty, theft, and slander.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Dharma teaching focusing on conduct and karmic trajectory; not a direct pancalakṣaṇa unit.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Release from hell’ can be read inwardly as release from tamasic states; the signs are sattvic markers—dayā and saṃvāda—indicating purification and reintegration into cosmic order.