Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 75, Shloka 18

Adhyaya 75 — The Fall and Restoration of Revatī Nakṣatra and the Birth of Raivata Manu

Sanskrit

रेवत्यन्ते मुनिश्रेष्ठ जातोऽयं तनयस्तव ।

तेन दुःखाय ते दुष्टे काले यस्मादजायत ॥

Transliteration

revatyante muniśreṣṭha jāto 'yaṃ tanayas tava /

tena duḥkhāya te duṣṭe kāle yasmād ajāyata

Translation

हे मुनिश्रेष्ठ, आपका यह पुत्र रेवती (नक्षत्र) के अंत में जन्मा; इसलिए अशुभ समय में जन्म लेने से यह आपके लिए शोक का कारण बन गया।

Word by Word

• revaty-ante: at the end of Revatī (nakṣatra/period)
• revaty-ante: Deśa/Kāla-adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: revatī (प्रातिपदिक) + anta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (anta), सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (revatyāḥ antaḥ)

• muni-śreṣṭha: O best of sages
• muni-śreṣṭha: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक) + śreṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (munīnām śreṣṭhaḥ)

• jātaḥ: was born
• jātaḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• ayam: this (son)
• ayam: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tanayaḥ: son
• tanayaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject, apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tanaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• tava: your
• tava: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuṣmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचन

• tena: therefore/by that
• tena: Hetu (हेतु/by that)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन

• duḥkhāya: for (causing) sorrow
• duḥkhāya: Sampradāna/Prayojana (सम्प्रदान/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी विभक्ति (Dative/4th), एकवचन; ‘for sorrow’

• te: to you / for you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान/affected person)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuṣmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; चतुर्थी/षष्ठी-एकवचन रूप (dat./gen. sg. enclitic)

• duṣṭe: in the wicked
• duṣṭe: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duṣṭa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; ‘in the evil (time)’ (agreeing with kāle)

• kāle: time
• kāle: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन

• yasmāt: because
• yasmāt: Hetu (हेतु/cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बन्ध-सर्वनाम; पञ्चमी विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन; ‘because/from which’

• ajāyata: was born
• ajāyata: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jan (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; ‘was born’

Speakers

• A responding sage/interlocutor addressing Ṛtavāk (exact identity not explicit in the given excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karma
• Jyotiṣa/auspicious timing
• Family ethics

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Purāṇic ethics often integrates karma with ‘kāla’ (time): misfortune can manifest through inauspicious timing, yet the deeper implication remains that time is a vehicle through which prior karma ripens.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Not pancalakṣaṇa; it is a causal explanation within an ethical narrative, drawing on jyotiṣa notions of kāla.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Revatyanta’ and ‘duṣṭa-kāla’ symbolize liminality (an ‘end-point’), suggesting unstable thresholds where latent tendencies surface—time as the trigger for stored saṃskāras.