Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 86, Shloka 3

Adhyaya 86 — Dhumralocana’s Mission and His Ashing by the Goddess; Shumbha Sends Chanda and Munda

Sanskrit

हे धूम्रलोचनाशु त्वं स्वसैन्यपरिवारितः ।

तामानय बलाद् दुष्टां केशाकर्षणविह्वलाम् ॥

Transliteration

he dhūmralocanāśu tvaṃ svasainyaparivāritaḥ | tām ānaya balād duṣṭāṃ keśākarṣaṇavihvalām ||

Translation

「ドゥームラローチャナよ、急げ—自軍に取り囲まれて—あの邪悪な女を力ずくで連行せよ。髪をつかんで引きずり、苦しめて連れて来い。」

Word by Word

• हे: O
• हे: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Vocative marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हे (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बोधनसूचक अव्यय (vocative particle)

• धूम्रलोचन: Dhūmralocana
• धूम्रलोचन: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Addressed)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धूम्रलोचन (प्रातिपदिक: धूम्र + लोचन)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)

• आशु: quickly
• आशु: Kriya-visheshaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आशु (अव्यय)
• Form: शीघ्रार्थक अव्यय (adverb: quickly)

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• स्वसैन्यपरिवारितः: surrounded by your army
• स्वसैन्यपरिवारितः: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व (प्रातिपदिक) + सैन्य (प्रातिपदिक) + परिवारित (प्रातिपदिक; परि-√वृ + क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)

• ताम्: her
• ताम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• आनय: bring
• आनय: Kriya (क्रिया/Command)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-नी (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (Singular), परस्मैपद

• बलात्: by force
• बलात्: Kriya-visheshaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पञ्चमी-प्रयोगे अव्ययीभाववत् (adverbial use of ablative), बलात् = बलपूर्वकं (forcibly)

• दुष्टाम्: wicked
• दुष्टाम्: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुष्ट (प्रातिपदिक; √दुष् + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

• केशाकर्षणविह्वलाम्: distressed by pulling her hair
• केशाकर्षणविह्वलाम्: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: केश (प्रातिपदिक) + आकर्षण (प्रातिपदिक; आ-√कृष् + ल्युट्) + विह्वल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (Singular)

Speakers

• Śumbha (commanding Dhūmralocana)
• narrated by the Ṛṣi

Primary Deities

• Śumbha
• Dhūmralocana
• Devī

Shakti Aspects

• Devī as the invincible Śakti whom asuras misname ‘duṣṭā’ (wicked) due to inverted values

Key Themes

• Adharma and coercion
• Pre-battle escalation
• Inversion of values (calling the righteous ‘wicked’)
• Violence against the sacred feminine

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Adharma justifies its violence by redefining virtue as vice (‘duṣṭā’). The verse is a warning about moral inversion: when desire rules, it labels resistance as wickedness and seeks domination by force.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Manvantara-ākhyāna; it advances the conflict that culminates in the Goddess’s theophany and restoration of order—an exemplary narrative within the manvantara framework.

What is the esoteric significance?

The command to ‘seize by force’ represents compulsive grasping (rāga) attempting to capture inner power. ‘Hair-dragging’ suggests pulling consciousness downward into tamasic control—yet Śakti’s arising will transmute and destroy that compulsion.