Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 70, Shloka 37
Adhyaya 70 — The King Confronts the Rakshasa and Restores the Brahmin’s Wife
राक्षस उवाच प्रापयामि तवादेशादिमां भर्तृगृहं प्रभो ।
यदन्यत्करणीयन्ते तदाज्ञापय पार्थिव ॥
rākṣasa uvāca prāpayāmi tavādeśād imāṃ bhartṛgṛhaṃ prabho / yad anyat karaṇīyante tad ājñāpaya pārthiva
राक्षस बोला—हे प्रभो, आपकी आज्ञा से मैं इस स्त्री को उसके पति के घर पहुँचा दूँगा। और जो कुछ भी करना हो, वह भी आज्ञा दीजिए, हे राजन्।
FAQs
Even a fearsome being can be bound to dharma through rightful authority and repentance. The king’s role includes ensuring restitution and safeguarding social order.
Manvantara-linked narrative illustrating dharma in practice; it functions as moral instruction embedded in a genealogical/epochal frame.
The rākṣasa represents untamed force; when subordinated to dharmic command, the same force becomes protective rather than predatory—an allegory for mastering impulses.