Shloka 52
Adhyāya 188: Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of Yuga-Decline and the Restoration Motif
Kali-yuga to Kalki
अहं प्रजापतिर्ब्रहद्या मत्परं नाधिगम्यते | मत्स्यरूपेण यूयं च मयास्मान्मोक्षिता भयात्
ahaṁ prajāpatir bṛhadyā mat-paraṁ nādhigamyate | matsya-rūpeṇa yūyaṁ ca mayāsmān mokṣitā bhayāt ||
マールカンデーヤは語った。「我はプラジャーパティ・ブラフマー、偉大なる始祖である。我を超えるものを、真に悟り得る者はいない。汝らもまた、我が魚の姿を取ったとき、我によって恐怖から救われたのだ。」
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the transcendence of the divine source (Prajāpati) as ultimately beyond full human comprehension, while also affirming compassionate divine protection—rescue from fear through a manifested form.
Mārkaṇḍeya speaks of a divine identity as Prajāpati and recalls a past act of deliverance: those addressed were saved from danger when the deity took on a fish-form (matsya-rūpa), evoking a mythic rescue motif.