Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 1, Shloka 43

Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds

Sanskrit

अद्य तं देहयन्तारं प्रयुक्तेन्द्रियवाजिनम् ।

स्मरशस्त्रगलद्रश्मिं करिष्यामि कुसारथिम ॥

Transliteration

adya taṃ dehayantāraṃ prayuktendriyavājinaṃ | smaraśastragaladraśmiṃ kariṣyāmi kusārathim ||

Translation

«ယနေ့ ငါသည် အာရုံခံစားမှုတို့၏ မြင်းများကို မောင်းနှင်သူ၊ စ္မရ (ကာမ) ၏ လက်နက်တို့ကြောင့် ချုပ်ကြိုးများ လျှောကျနေသော ထိုမီးလောင်စေသူကို မကောင်းသော ရထားမောင်းသူအဖြစ် ပြုမည်»။

Word by Word

• adya: today/now
• adya: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण), temporal

• tam: him
• tam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• dehayantāram: the one who gives a body / the embodier
• dehayantāram: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dehayantṛ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √dehaya/देहय् causative of √dih/देह? used as denominative ‘to embody’)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; Agent noun (कर्तृवाचक) in -tṛ

• prayukta-indriya-vājinam: having senses as well-controlled steeds
• prayukta-indriya-vājinam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prayukta (कृदन्त; √yuj/युज्, past passive participle) + indriya (प्रातिपदिक) + vājin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; Tatpuruṣa: ‘whose horses are the controlled senses’ (इन्द्रियाणि वाजिनः यस्य)

• smara-śastra-galat-raśmim: whose reins slip because of Love’s weapon
• smara-śastra-galat-raśmim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: smara (प्रातिपदिक) + śastra (प्रातिपदिक) + galat (कृदन्त; √gal/गल्, present participle) + raśmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; Tatpuruṣa: ‘whose reins are slipping/dropping due to the weapon of Love’ (स्मरशस्त्रेण गलन्ति रश्मयः यस्य)

• kariṣyāmi: I will make
• kariṣyāmi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Simple future (लृट्), 1st person (उत्तमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada

• ku-sārathim: a bad charioteer
• ku-sārathim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ku- (उपसर्ग/निपात ‘bad’) + sārathi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; Tatpuruṣa: ‘bad charioteer’

Speakers

• Narrative voice within the opening frame; the verse expresses a vow-like resolve (not within Devi Māhātmya proper).

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Smara (Kāma)

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Sense-control (indriya-nigraha)
• Tapas / ascetic discipline
• Inner battle with desire

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse frames desire as a driver that harnesses the senses like horses; ethical strength lies in reversing this control—making passion an unfit charioteer—so that discernment, not impulse, governs action.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

It aligns most closely with Vaṃśānucarita/Carita (narrative conduct and exemplary resolve) rather than Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara/Vaṃśa; it is a didactic moment embedded in the opening narrative frame.

What is the esoteric significance?

The chariot imagery internalizes the battlefield: senses (horses) and desire (Smara’s force) must be mastered. “Slipping reins” suggests weakened restraint; the vow is to sever desire’s effective command so inner sovereignty (ātma-vaśyatā) is restored.