Shloka 21

Adhyaya 75 — The Fall and Restoration of Revatī Nakṣatra and the Birth of Raivata Manu

Sanskrit

मार्कण्डेय उवाच तेनैवं व्याहृते शापे रेवत्यृक्षं पपात ह ।

पश्यतः सर्वलोकस्य विस्मयाविष्टचेतसः ॥

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca tenaivaṃ vyāhṛte śāpe revatyṛkṣaṃ papāta ha / paśyataḥ sarvalokasya vismayāviṣṭacetasaḥ

Translation

मार्कण्डेय म्हणाला—असा शाप उच्चारला जाताच, सर्व लोक पाहत असताना रेवती-ऋक्ष (अस्वल) पडला; सर्वांची मने विस्मयाने ग्रासली.

Word by Word

• mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Mārkaṇḍeya
• mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārkaṇḍeya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (क्रिया/main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (वच्)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• tena: by him/thereby
• tena: Karana (करण/instrument/agentive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• evam: thus
• evam: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: evam (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of manner)

• vyāhṛte: when uttered/after being pronounced
• vyāhṛte: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/locative context)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-ā-√hṛ (हृ) (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle) in locative singular; नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग/स्त्रीलिङ्ग सम्भव; here: सप्तमी एकवचन with śāpe (locative absolute-like)

• śāpe: in/at the curse
• śāpe: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• revatyṛkṣam: the Revatī-star/asterism
• revatyṛkṣam: Karma (कर्म/object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: revatī + ṛkṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (revatyāḥ ṛkṣam)

• papāta: fell
• papāta: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √pat (पत्)
• Form: लिट्/लङ्-रूपसदृश (Perfect-like narrative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• ha: indeed/then
• ha: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ha (अव्यय)
• Form: स्मरण/वृत्तान्तसूचक-अव्यय (narrative particle)

• paśyataḥ: of (those) seeing/while seeing
• paśyataḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/genitive absolute-like)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √paś (पश्) (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present active participle) ‘paśyat’, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; used with sarvalokasya: ‘while (they) were seeing’

• sarva-lokasya: of all the people/world
• sarva-lokasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (sarvaḥ lokaḥ)

• vismaya-āviṣṭa-cetasaḥ: whose minds were seized by astonishment
• vismaya-āviṣṭa-cetasaḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण/qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vismaya + āviṣṭa + cetas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः: ‘vismayena āviṣṭaṃ cetas yasya’ (sense close to bahuvrīhi, but used as genitive qualifier of sarvalokasya)

Speakers

• Markandeya as narrator (to his listener[s] in the broader Purana frame; not the Devi Mahatmya birds-frame here)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Power of ascetic speech
• Transformation motif
• Public wonder (vismaya)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The narrative stresses immediacy of karmic/ascetic speech consequences and the social dimension of moral events—others witness and learn through shock (vismaya), reinforcing communal moral memory.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Ākhyāna embedded in Vamśānucarita style; it functions as a causal link for later geographic/person etiology.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Falling’ before the eyes of all symbolizes the visible manifestation of subtle cause—what is inward (ethical taint) becomes outward (form/state change), making dharma legible to the community.