Shloka 57

Adhyāya 188: Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of Yuga-Decline and the Restoration Motif

Kali-yuga to Kalki

Devanagari script

सर्वा: प्रजा मनु: साक्षाद्‌ यथावद्‌ भरतर्षभ । इत्येतन्मात्स्यकं नाम पुराणं परिकीर्तितम्‌,भरतकुलभूषण! फिर वे पूर्वकल्पके अनुसार सारी प्रजाकी यथावत्‌ सृष्टि करने लगे। इस प्रकार यह संक्षेपसे मत्स्य पुराणका वृत्तान्त बताया गया है

Transliteration

sarvāḥ prajā manuḥ sākṣād yathāvad bharatarṣabha | ityetat mātsyakaṃ nāma purāṇaṃ parikīrtitam, bharatakula-bhūṣaṇa |

Translation

ഭരതശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! അപ്പോൾ മനു സ്വയം യഥാവിധിയും യഥാക്രമവും അനുസരിച്ച് സർവ്വ പ്രജകളെയും സൃഷ്ടിച്ചു. ഇങ്ങനെ ‘മാത്സ്യക’ എന്ന പേരിലുള്ള പുരാണവൃത്താന്തം സംക്ഷേപമായി പ്രസ്താവിക്കപ്പെട്ടു.

Word by Word

• {'sarvāḥ': 'all (feminine plural

• here referring to ‘all’ beings/creatures)', 'prajāḥ': 'creatures, subjects, living beings

• the populace', 'manuḥ': 'Manu, the primordial lawgiver and progenitor of mankind', 'sākṣāt': 'directly, in person

• himself', 'yathāvat': 'properly, correctly, as prescribed

• in due manner', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O best of the Bharatas (honorific address)', 'iti': 'thus', 'etat': 'this', 'mātsyakam': 'pertaining to Matsya

• ‘Mātsyaka’ (connected with the Matsya narrative/tradition)', 'nāma': 'by name

• called', 'purāṇam': 'ancient sacred narrative/tradition

• Purāṇa', 'parikīrtitam': 'recounted, proclaimed, narrated', 'bharatakula-bhūṣaṇa': 'ornament of the Bharata family (honorific address)'}

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Manu
• Bharata lineage (Bharata-kula)
• Mātsyaka Purāṇa (Matsya-related Purāṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes orderly creation and governance: Manu, as archetypal lawgiver, creates and arranges beings ‘yathāvat’—properly and according to due procedure—implying that cosmic and social order (dharma) rests on correct, principled arrangement rather than arbitrariness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya concludes a brief recounting of a Matsya-related ancient narrative, stating that Manu himself proceeded to create all beings according to the prior cosmic cycle, and that this is the succinctly narrated account called the Mātsyaka Purāṇa.