Shloka 41
Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds
मार्कण्डेय उवाच तस्य तद्वचनं श्रुत्वा सर्वा वेपत कन्धराः ।
अशक्यमेतदस्माकमिति ताश्चक्रिरे कथाः ॥
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca tasya tadvacanaṃ śrutvā sarvā vepatakandharāḥ | aśakyam etad asmākam iti tāś cakrire kathāḥ ||
മാർക്കണ്ഡേയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അവന്റെ വാക്കുകൾ കേട്ടപ്പോൾ അവർ എല്ലാവരും ഭയത്താൽ കഴുത്തുവരെ വിറച്ചു, “ഇത് ഞങ്ങൾക്കു സാധ്യമല്ല” എന്നു പറയാൻ തുടങ്ങി।
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FAQs
The verse highlights a common ethical moment in Purāṇic narratives: when confronted with a daunting demand or truth, ordinary agents recoil and declare incapacity. It sets up the need for higher counsel, dharmic resolve, or divine assistance, depending on the subsequent narrative turn.
This verse functions primarily as a narrative frame-device rather than a direct Pancalakṣaṇa unit. It supports the Purāṇa’s ‘vaṃśānucarita’/itihāsa-style storytelling infrastructure (contextual narration) that often precedes sections on sarga, pratisarga, manvantara, and vaṃśa.
Trembling ‘at the neck’ symbolizes the disturbance of prāṇa and resolve at the gateway between thought and speech—fear constricts expression. The declaration ‘impossible for us’ marks the ego’s limit, a threshold that narratives often use to pivot toward surrender, guidance, or the emergence of a more capacious (daivī/dharmic) agency.