Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 12, Shloka 16

Adhyaya 12 — The Son Describes the Narakas: Mahāraurava, Tamas, Nikṛntana, Apratiṣṭha, Asipatravana, and Taptakumbha

Sanskrit

तस्मिन् कुलालचक्राणि भ्राम्यन्त्यविरतं पितः ।

तेष्वारोप्य निकृत्यन्ते कालसूत्रेण मानवाः ॥

Transliteration

tasmin kulālacakrāṇi bhrāmyanty avirataṃ pitaḥ /

teṣv āropya nikṛtyante kālasūtreṇa mānavāḥ

Translation

ಓ ತಂದೆಯೇ, ಆ ನರಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಂಬಾರನ ಚಕ್ರಗಳು ನಿರಂತರವಾಗಿ ತಿರುಗುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ಅವುಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಏರಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ಮನುಷ್ಯರನ್ನು ಕಾಲಸೂತ್ರದಿಂದ ತುಂಡು ತುಂಡಾಗಿ ಕತ್ತರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

Word by Word

• तस्मिन्: in that (place)
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुं/नपुंसक, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• कुलाल-चक्राणि: potter’s wheels
• कुलाल-चक्राणि: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुलाल (प्रातिपदिक) + चक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (potter’s wheels), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• भ्राम्यन्ति: they spin/whirl
• भ्राम्यन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भ्रम् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपद

• अविरतम्: unceasingly
• अविरतम्: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अविरत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; क्रियाविशेषणवत् प्रयोगः (accusative of manner: ‘unceasingly’)

• पितः: O father
• पितः: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन; पितृ-शब्द (O father)

• तेषु: on/in them
• तेषु: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसक/पुं, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन

• आरोप्य: having mounted/placed (them)
• आरोप्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ-√रुह् (धातु) + ल्यप् (अव्ययीभाव/क्त्वान्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive), पूर्वक्रिया (prior action)

• निकृत्यन्ते: are cut down/are hewn
• निकृत्यन्ते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-√कृत् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense: ‘are cut to pieces’)

• काल-सूत्रेण: by the Kālasūtra (thread/cord)
• काल-सूत्रेण: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक) + सूत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (time-thread/‘Kālasūtra’), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• मानवाः: men, humans
• मानवाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speakers

• Narrator addressing an interlocutor as ‘pitaḥ’ (father); exact frame not recoverable from excerpt alone

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Yama (implicit)

Key Themes

• Karmic retribution
• Hell punishments
• Impermanence and time (kāla)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse dramatizes the inevitability of karmic consequence: wrongdoing places one onto an unstoppable ‘wheel’ of suffering. Ethical restraint and dharmic living are presented as the practical escape from such results.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Falls under dharma-upadeśa through karmaphala narration; also touches cosmography (adholoka/naraka descriptions) commonly embedded in Purāṇas.

What is the esoteric significance?

The potter’s wheel suggests saṃsāra’s rotation; Kālasūtra (‘time-thread’) symbolizes time’s inescapable slicing of embodied identity. The ‘cutting’ hints at the disintegration of ego-constructs forged by adharma.