Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 59, Shloka 14

Adhyaya 59 — Cosmic Geography and Yuga-Order: Bhadrashva, Ketumala, and the Northern Kuru Region

Sanskrit

मौलयस्ते महाकायाः शाकपोतकम्बकाः ।

अङ्गुलप्रमुखाश्चापि वसन्ति शतशो जनाः ॥

Transliteration

maulayaste mahākāyāḥ śākapotakambhakāḥ | aṅgulapramukhāścāpi vasanti śataśo janāḥ ||

Translation

वहाँ महाकाय मौलय लोग रहते हैं; तथा शाक, पोटक और कंभक भी। और अङ्गुल-प्रमुख आदि जातियाँ भी वहाँ सैकड़ों की संख्या में निवास करती हैं।

Word by Word

• maulayaḥ: Maulayas (a people)
• maulayaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maulaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); name of a people/tribe

• te: they/those
• te: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); demonstrative pronoun

• mahā-kāyāḥ: large-bodied
• mahā-kāyāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + kāya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); karmadhāraya (कर्मधारय) 'mahān kāyaḥ yeṣām' in sense 'having huge bodies' (adjectival)

• śāka-pota-kambhakāḥ: Śākas, Potas, and Kambhakas (peoples)
• śāka-pota-kambhakāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāka (प्रातिपदिक) + pota (प्रातिपदिक) + kambhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); dvandva (द्वन्द्व) listing groups/tribes

• aṅgula-pramukhāḥ: having the Aṅgulas as foremost
• aṅgula-pramukhāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṅgula (प्रातिपदिक) + pramukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) 'aṅgulāḥ pramukhāḥ yeṣām' = 'with Aṅgulas as leaders/foremost'

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• api: also
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपातार्थ)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), particle (निपात): 'also/even'

• vasanti: live; dwell
• vasanti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vas (वस् धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (लट्, present), Prathama-puruṣa (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• śataśaḥ: by hundreds
• śataśaḥ: Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: śataśas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), adverb (क्रियाविशेषण): 'by hundreds/in hundreds'

• janāḥ: people
• janāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

Speakers

• Frame narrator (Purāṇic rishi voice) describing inhabitants of Ketumāla

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Ethnography (Puranic)
• Sacred Geography

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Purāṇic geography includes diverse human types; difference in form and community is normalized as part of a vast created order rather than a moral hierarchy.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Sthāna (description of regions and their inhabitants).

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Great-bodied’ beings can symbolize amplified capacities (bhoga/experience) in certain cosmic zones—suggesting that environment conditions embodied experience.