Shloka 21
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Consolation to the King: Exempla of Rāma and the Efficacy of Allies (मार्कण्डेयाश्वासनम्)
एक हजार वर्ष पूर्ण होनेपर दुर्धर्ष दशाननने अपना मस्तक काटकर अग्निमें उसकी आहुति दे दी। उसके इस अदभुत कर्मसे लोकेश्चर ब्रह्माजी बहुत संतुष्ट हुए ।। ततो ब्रह्मा स्वयं गत्वा तपसस्तान् न््यवारयत् | प्रलोभ्य वरदानेन सवनिव पृथक् पृथक्,तदनन्तर ब्रह्माजीने स्वयं जाकर उन सबको तपस्या करनेसे रोका और प्रत्येकको पृथक्-पृथक् वरदानका लोभ देते हुए कहा--
eka-sahasra-varṣa-pūrṇe durdharṣa-daśānano 'tma-mastakaṃ kṛttvāgnau tasya āhutiṃ dadau | tasya etad-adbhuta-karmaṇā lokeśvaraḥ brahmā mahān tuṣṭo 'bhavat || tato brahmā svayaṃ gatvā tapasas tān nyavārayat | pralobhya vara-dānena sarvān iva pṛthak pṛthak, tad-anantaram brahmā svayaṃ gatvā tān sarvān tapasā nivārayām āsa, pratyekaṃ pṛthak pṛthag vara-pradānena pralobhayann uvāca—
When a full thousand years had been completed, the formidable ten-headed one cut off his own head and offered it into the fire as an oblation. By this astonishing act, Brahmā, the Lord of the worlds, became greatly pleased. Then Brahmā himself went there and restrained them from continuing their austerities; enticing each one separately with the promise of boons, he spoke as follows—
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extreme austerity and dramatic self-offering can win divine attention, but the episode also warns that spiritual power is ethically ambivalent: boons gained through tapas may empower both righteous and unrighteous aims, so restraint and discernment are crucial.
After a thousand years of austerity, the ten-headed Rāvaṇa performs a shocking act—offering his own severed head into the fire. Brahmā, pleased, personally appears and stops the ongoing austerities, addressing them and offering boons to each individually.