Shloka 24
अग्निरापस्तथा55काशं पृथिवी वायुरेव च । विमुज्चन्तु मम प्राणान् यदि पापं चराम्यहम्,“यदि मैं पापका आचरण करती होऊँ तो अग्नि, जल, आकाश, पृथ्वी और वायु--ये सब मिलकर मुझसे मेरे प्राणोंका वियोग करा दें
agnir āpas tathākāśaṁ pṛthivī vāyur eva ca | vimucyantu mama prāṇān yadi pāpaṁ carāmy aham ||
Markandeya said: “If I am guilty of sinful conduct, then let fire, water, space, earth, and wind—these great elements—together sever my life-breath from me.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral accountability as answerable to the very fabric of the cosmos: if one truly commits pāpa (wrongdoing), the pañcamahābhūtas (five great elements) may justly withdraw support for life. It underscores truthfulness and ethical self-scrutiny, using an oath-like conditional that invokes cosmic witnesses.
Mārkaṇḍeya speaks a solemn conditional declaration: he calls upon the five elements—fire, water, space, earth, and wind—as witnesses and enforcers, stating that if he is acting sinfully, they should separate him from his prāṇa (life). This functions as a powerful assertion of innocence or integrity within the surrounding story context.